Remembering Lalo Schifrin

June 21, 1932 – June 26, 2025

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Lalo Schifrin passed away on June 26, 2025 at the age of 93.

He was born as Boris Claudio Schifrin on June 21, 1932 in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Lalo was a nickname based on his middle name; he later legally changed his name to Lalo Schifrin for simplicity.

He began classical piano lessons when he was six and, although he studied sociology and law at the University of Buenos Aires, music and jazz interested him much more.

Schifrin studied music at the Conservatoire de Paris, playing jazz in Paris clubs in the mid-1950s.

Back in Argentina, he led a 16-piece jazz orchestra that was featured regularly on television, and he became a studio musician.

He met Dizzy Gillespie in 1956, worked as a pianist and arranger for Xavier Cugat, and in the late 1950s moved to New York, and wrote “Gillespiana” for Dizzy.

Schifrin was the pianist in the Dizzy Gillespie Quintet during 1960-63 and gained a strong reputation, particularly for his writing.

In 1963 he wrote the score for his first Hollywood film (Rhino) and moved to Los Angeles.

In his career, Schifrin wrote dozens of film and television scores with the theme music for “Mission Impossible” (which was in 5/4 time) being his most famous composition.

The prolific composer wrote for at least 28 films and 11 television series and was active in a variety of fields.

In later years, Schifrin’s Jazz Meets The Symphony series of recordings which numbered at least seven gave him an opportunity to write for a large orchestra and play jazz piano.

Here is Lalo Schifrin in 1995 with the Marseille Philharmonic Orchestra playing piano and conducting his theme from “Mission Impossible.”

-Scott Yanow

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