ELLWOOD CITY – If it wasn’t for COVID-19 restrictions, former Ellwood City resident Patricia Greco would be sitting in the audience at this Sunday’s 93rd annual Academy Awards, right next to her daughter and son-in-law, who is nominated for an Oscar.
Her daughter Allessandra is married to Emile Mosseri, who is up for the award for Best Original Score because he wrote the musical track for multiple-nominee “Minari.”
Mosseri is competing against Mercer County native Trent Reznor, who is nominated along with Atticus Ross for the “Mank” score. The pair and John Baptiste also are nominated for “Soul.” Other nominees are Terence Blanchard for “Da 5 Bloods” and James Newton Howard for “News of the World.”
Greco, a 1966 graduate of Lincoln High School, said they are very excited for Emile because even to be nominated for an Oscar is a huge honor.
Mosseri’s score was recorded with a full 40-string orchestra and some of it features him humming. It is described as a stirring and intimate accompaniment to the film that has received six Oscar nominations. Mosseri was also on the shortlist for Best Original Song for “Rain Song” from the movie. He also wrote the score for “Kajillionaire.”
Mosseri, 35, said both the films had the qualities he looks for; pure and honest works, written and directed by one person, and both stories are personal and imaginative.
“Generally, the beginning is one of the most fun parts of the process, where I just write a bunch of music in the spirit of the film mostly on the piano, but on other instruments, sometimes,” he said. “I’m singing melodies, or playing guitar, or making early arrangements, and then I send all that music to the director and see what resonates with them, and what our overlaps are, what music we both love.”
Mosseri, who attended Berklee College of Music in Boston, has a background in indie music, which is short for independent. It means music that is made by people who independently form major record labels and the music can be experimental with new and different sounds. For a number of years, Mosseri has made a name for himself in the indie music world with his lush neo-classical style and spent several years with the indie band, “The Dig.”
This is Mosseri’s first Oscar nomination, but his family believes it is just the beginning as he has shown the creative ability to put emotion and truth into music.
The Mosseris live in Glendale, Calif., and Greco is in the process of moving there.
