The Buenos Aires-born composer, pianist and conductor Lalo Schifrin died this week in Los Angeles at the age of 93. He leaves behind a legacy that bridges the worlds of jazz, classical and cinematic music. 

Best known for his powerful television and film scores – including the iconic Mission: Impossible theme – Schifrin was a composer equally at home in the concert hall and on the jazz stage.

Lalo Schifrin. 1932–2025

Born Boris Claudio Schifrin on June 21, 1932, he grew up in a highly musical family. His father, Luis Schifrin, was Concertmaster of the Teatro Colón orchestra, and Lalo began piano lessons at age six. 

Despite a strong classical foundation, it was jazz that captured his imagination as a teenager. This duality – rigorous classical technique and improvisational jazz fluency – would become the hallmark of his voice.

After studies at the Paris Conservatoire – partly with Olivier Messiaen – Schifrin returned to Argentina and quickly made a name for himself as a jazz pianist. His fateful meeting with Dizzy Gillespie in 1956 changed his trajectory: Schifrin composed for Gillespie’s big band and joined him in the United States, launching...