In Remembrance: Michael Gibson

     Michael Gibson, the film score arranger who worked on the hit musical Grease (1978), has passed away in Dover, NJ on July 15, 2005. He was 60.

     Born in Wilmington, Delaware, Gibson was a graduate of Harvard University and had studied trombone at Boston’s Berklee College Of Music. Hr worked for several years as a studio musician in New York City, working with James Brown and other musicians.

     In 1972, Gibson orchestrated the music for a new Broadway musical about high school in the 1950s- Grease. When the show was adapted into the hit 1978 film, Gibson again arranged the music. The film’s soundtrack would become a platinum album, ultimately selling over 20 million copies.

     Gibson primarily worked on stage musicals, orchestrating for the shows Woman Of The Year , The Rink, Kiss Of The Spider Woman and The Boy From Oz. In total, he orchestrated over 100 Broadway, off-Broadway and regional theatre shows.

     Gibson’s other film work include arranging the music for the 1977 romance Roseland and the 1982 mystery Still Of The Night.