Harvey R. Cohen Passes

Noted Orchestrator & Composer

Harvey R. Cohen, an Emmy-winning composer and orchestrator, died Sunday at age 55. Cohen passed away while traveling to a hospital after experiencing a heart attack. The Agoura Hills resident had suffered from heart problems for most of his life.

Cohen won Emmy Awards for his musical direction and composition work in two animated television shows from the 1990s: The Adventures of Batman and Robin and Disney's Aladdin.

Cohen orchestrated music for numerous films including Mission: Impossible III, King Kong, South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut and Batman: Mask of the Phantasm.

Cohen, who played the piano and several wind instruments, also arranged music for recording artists such as Kenny G and the Irish Tenors.

The Brookline, Massachusetts, native studied music at the University of Hartford in Connecticut and pursued graduate studies at Brooklyn College in New York.

In the early 1990s, Cohen put together the Hollywood All-Star Big Band, an 18-piece group that regularly performed at the Moonlight Tango Cafe in Sherman Oaks.