Composer John Williams is being honoured with a Lifetime Achievement award by the American Film Institute. The five-time Academy Award winner, who scored the soundtracks to Star Wars, Jaws, Schindler's List and E.T. among many others, will received the award at a ceremony on June 9th, 2016.

He won his Oscars for the four movies listed above and for his adaptation of the original song score for Fiddler On the Roof, and has been nominated an additional 44 times – the most Oscar nods for any living person. It’s the first time in the AFI’s history that the prestigious honour will be bestowed upon a composer. The inaugural Lifetime Achievement award was given in 1973 to director John Ford.

John WilliamsJohn Williams, with his wife Samantha Winslow

“John Williams has written the soundtrack to our lives,” said Sir Howard Stringer, chairman of the AFI board of trustees in a statement via the organisation’s website. “Note by note, through chord and chorus, his genius for marrying music with movies has elevated the art form to symphonic levels and inspired generations of audiences to be enriched by the magic of the movies. AFI is proud to present him with its 44th Life Achievement Award.”

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According to the AFI’s selection criteria for the award, which in the past has been given to the likes of Elizabeth Taylor, Alfred Hitchcock, Martin Scorsese and Meryl Streep: “The recipient should be one whose talent has in a fundamental way advanced the film art; whose accomplishment has been acknowledged by scholars, critics, professional peers and the general public; and whose work has stood the test of time.”

83 year old Williams has provided the soundtracks for over 150 movies and 200 TV shows over a seven-decade career. He’s not finished yet, as he has worked on the score for the upcoming Star Wars movie The Force Awakens, which is out in late December.

He’s also expected to reunite with director Steven Spielberg, with whom he has a professional relationship dating back over 40 years, for his adaptation of Roald Dahl’s ‘The BFG’.

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