Rickey Minor Is Music Director for 2023 Oscars

Rickey Minor will serve as music director of the 2023 Oscars, airing live Sunday, March 12, on ABC. Minor last served as the show’s music director in 2020.

Raj Kapoor, who has been associated with the Oscars telecast for six years, returns as a producer. Kapoor has been one of three executive producers (along with Ben Winston and Jesse Collins) of the Grammy Awards the last two years.

These were two of the key announcements on Thursday (Feb. 9) as Glenn Weiss and Ricky Kirshner, executive producers and showrunners for the 95th Oscars, unveiled members of their production team. 

Minor has received 14 Emmy Award nominations for outstanding music direction, winning twice. He has been nominated three times for his work on the Kennedy Center Honors, twice for the Oscars, twice for the Grammy Awards and twice for “Grammy Salutes” specials to the Bee Gees and Aretha Franklin. He has also been nominated for the following specials: Genius: A Night for Ray Charles, An Evening of Stars: Tribute to Chaka Khan, Smithsonian Salutes Ray Charles: In Performance at the White House, Taking the Stage: African American Music and Stories That Changed America and Celebrating America – An Inauguration Night Special.

Minor’s other television credits include We Love NYC: The Homecoming Concert, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, American Idol and The Primetime Emmy Awards. Minor has also worked with Adele, Jon Batiste, Beyoncé, John Legend, Ed Sheeran and many more.

Kapoor won his first Primetime Emmy last year as an executive producer of Adele: One Night Only, which won as outstanding variety special (pre-recorded). He has also been nominated three times for outstanding variety special (live) for the Grammys.

Kapoor’s recent credits include Beauty and the Beast: A 30th Celebration, Norman Lear: 100 Years of Music and Laughter, The Latin Grammys, several The Disney Family Singalong specials and Stand Up to Cancer. 

Returning members of the production team are Rob Paine, co-executive producer; Taryn Hurd, talent producer; Agathe Panaretos, writer; Dave Boone, writer; and Robert Dickinson, lighting designer.

First-time members of the production team are Sarah Levine Hall, producer; Erin Irwin, producer; Jennifer Sharron, producer; and Nefetari Spencer, writer. Irwin and Sharron are both executive producers of Jimmy Kimmel Live!. Kimmel is hosting the Oscars for the third time.

The 95th Oscars will be held on Sunday, March 12 at the Dolby Theatre at Ovation Hollywood and will be televised live on ABC and in more than 200 territories worldwide.