By Sarah Godcher

	Photo by Liz Linder

"We have not evolved beyond the point where we need to drink water and breathe air. Neither have we evolved beyond the point where melody and harmony are not necessary," Kamen told students. "Melody is what survives us."

The renowned composer urged Berklee students to pursue their music -- and their lives -- with ardor and ambition. It was this combination that propelled Kamen to the top of his field. He has scored a variety of films from Die Hard to What Dreams May Come, has written hit songs such as "Everything I Do (I Do it for You)" from the movie Robin Hood, and has arranged orchestral parts for bands like Metallica and Aerosmith.

Kamen encouraged listeners to follow his example, tapping into all facets of one's talent by trying a hand at anything and everything.

"It's part of my ambition not to just write film music or just write songs or just be an oboe player or just be a conductor or just be anything," he told students. "Be everything, if you can be."

This was a lesson Kamen learned the hard way. By his own admission, he studied oboe -- and little else -- at Juilliard. He jokingly told students he flunked piano class because he was concentrating too intensely on his principal instrument. But Kamen's musical horizons were broadened after he joined a rock ensemble and began to think about writing music, not just performing it.

A short time later, Kamen tried his hand at orchestral arranging, though he had no formal training. "I had played in an orchestra, so I thought I knew how it went," he said. "I could hear the orchestra in my head, and I wrote it down."

This straight-ahead approach worked for him, so he charged on. "As long as nobody said, 'You can't do that,' I continued to do it," he said.

Throughout the 1970s, Kamen worked as an arranger, creating orchestral parts for a variety of rock artists, including David Bowie, Queen, Aerosmith and Metallica. His first big job in film scoring was on Terry Gilliam's Brazil in 1983.

The compositions that brought him the greatest commercial and critical success were for the action films Lethal Weapon and Die Hard. Kamen made a name for himself with those scores, becoming one of Hollywood's most in-demand composers. In the years since, he has scored dozens of hit movies, including Robin Hood, The Adventures of Baron Munchausen, Don Juan DeMarco, Mr. Holland's Opus, and What Dreams May Come.

Kamen also has made time for other projects, scoring ballets and composing a Symphony for the Millennium for The National Symphony in Washington, D.C. He also is working closely with the members of Metallica to put together a joint concert with the heavy metal band and the San Francisco Symphony.

Driven by a profound love of melody and a desire to be involved in all facets of music, Kamen is always working. He urged students to do the same, while being mindful of their musical roots and vigilant about preserving orchestral music.

"I really do believe in orchestras, and I really do believe in melody," he said. "And I believe that both of those structures are seriously threatened in this world."