John Williams to receive 44th AFI Life Achievement Award

Five-time Oscar winner John Williams will be the recipient of the 44th AFI Life Achievement Award at its gala tribute to be held here next year. It's the first time that the AFI is honouring a composer.

"John Williams has written the soundtrack to our lives. 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," Howard Stringer, chairman of the AFI Board of Trustees, said in a statement, reports deadline.com.

Born and raised in New York, Williams moved to Los Angeles in 1948. He went on to write music or serve as music director for more than 200 television works and for more than 150 films, including some of the most successful movies of all time.

His credits include "Jaws", "Star Wars", "E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial", "Schindler's List", the Indiana Jones movies and "Jurassic Park".

He has a 40-year artistic partnership with director Steven Spielberg that began in 1972 with "The Sugarland Express". His upcoming projects are "Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens", and he will re-team with Spielberg for "The BFG" in 2016.