'Versatile' composer visits

The lights dimmed and the screen lit up. As the name Patrick Williams scrolled down onto the screen, the audience applauded.\nBloomington residents and IU students gathered Sunday night at the IU Foundation Showalter House to view the Academy Award-winning movie "Breaking Away." The IU Student Foundation sponsored the event in honor of Patrick Williams, who composed the score for the film. He visited IU Friday through Sunday to hold auditions for the Henry Mancini Institute.\nIUSF president Jonathan Purvis opened the evening by introducing Williams.\n"Patrick Williams is one of the most versatile composers in the music industry," Purvis said.\nWilliams was given a plaque by a Little 500 rider on behalf of Mayor John Fernandez. The plaque declared Sunday, Feb. 24, 2002 as Patrick Williams Day in honor of his accomplishments as a renowned composer and his Academy Award nomination for the score of "Breaking Away."\n"Breaking Away" tells the story of four Bloomington teenagers who question their futures after high school graduation. In an effort to unify the campus and town, IU officials decide to create a local town team to race in the annual Little 500 bike race. The movie shows the emergence of the Cutters, today an independent IU team that races in the Little 500. The entire film is shot in Bloomington.\nWilliams said he is proud of the film and its production.\n"It's a little jewel of an American film," he said. "One of those rare moments when everything works together so beautifully."\nAfter the film viewing, Williams remained to answer questions about the movie, his career and the Henry Mancini Institute, which is a free educational program on the UCLA campus.\nAlthough Williams had no idea the film would be such a big success at the time, he said he admits it is very touching.\n"This is such a good movie, I actually teared up watching it," Williams said. \n"Breaking Away" touched many people. Bloomington residents Kem and Mary Haukins attended the screening Sunday night and have a special connection to the movie. When IU graduate Kem Haukins' job transferred him and his family to Denmark, his family used "Breaking Away" as its link back to Bloomington.\n"Along with our children, missing the States, we used to rent the movie and play it frequently," Mary Haukins said.\nWilliams discussed his process for composing movie scores. He said he usually tries to watch the movie a few times before he begins to compose the score.\n"I try to watch it myself and see what's moving me about it," Williams said.\nHe said there should be a balance between the score and the film. The score must accompany what is going on in the movie without taking too much attention away from the plot.\nIn addition to discussing the film, Williams also commented on the Henry Mancini Institute. The Institute has existed for six years. Its summer program objective is to expose students interested in careers in the music industry to various types of music.\nHe said it is very important for students who want to become studio professionals to learn to play eclectic styles of music.\nWilliams went to 11 cities and held 13 auditions for the Institute.\n"I wanted to get a feeling for what is out there at auditions," he said. "I've been very impressed. I'm excited about the talent we're going to have this summer"