Aaron Zigman Quotes

United States, Composer
January 6, 1963

Aaron Zigman is a classically-trained American composer, producer, arranger, songwriter, and musician who has scored music for films, including The Notebook, The Company Men, Bridge to Terabithia, John Q., The Proposal, Flicka, For Colored Girls, Flash of Genius, Sex & the City, Alpha Dog, and Escape from Planet Earth. Zigman has also written, arranged and produced over 50 hit albums and/or co-written songs with legendary and contemporary artists including Quincy Jones, Christina Aguilera, Phil Collins, John Legend, Dione Warwick, Ray Charles, Natalie Cole, Aretha Franklin, Tina Turner, Seal, and many others.

Also known as Producer, Arranger, Songwriter

There is competition. It's almost like I'm back in tennis competing in a way. There are usually about twenty composers vying for the number one spot for a big or medium film.

Aaron Zigman
The thing I learned from playing tennis is that I know what competition is. I can handle rejection.

Aaron Zigman

You cannot do what I do for a living without having a thick skin.

Aaron Zigman
- Living
- Skin
- Thick
Composers can do things that weren't allowed in the 17th century. Until we had composers like Igor Stravinsky and Sergei Rachmaninoff to break the rules.

Aaron Zigman
- Rules
- Break
- Composers
Film writing and concert writing are two very different things. In film writing I am serving the film and it tells you what to write. I have to stay within the parameters of the film. In writing concert music for the stage I can write anything I want and in this day and modern age rules can be broken.

Aaron Zigman
- Writing
- Film
- Concert
I have a huge record and cd collection of all kinds of great classical, jazz and all music but I find the internet very accessible and quick.

Aaron Zigman
You try and nurture the relationship. This day and age we have to do a little more networking than we used to do. All that does is make sure you befriend the people you are working with on a project so you hopefully carry it over to the next one.

Aaron Zigman
When you play competitive tennis you are competing against someone else and you have to win. Playing music I didn't have to win I had to become better within myself.

Aaron Zigman
- Music
- Better
- Tennis

Sometimes I just listen to classical pieces of music to take me away from my work. That's what I kind of do to wash away the notes that I've been working on all day. As human beings we need to sleep so that's kind of one of my little tricks.

Aaron Zigman
- Work
- Sleep
- Trick
When I create I don't think in technical or mathematical terms until the idea is formulated Musical composition is formulated in improvisation. Once a pianist like myself sits down and begins to play and start thinking about what I am writing all of a sudden a little tune will emerge, a little spot light and I'll go, "That's interesting."

Aaron Zigman