Collaboration is the cornerstone of a musicians’ creativity and career. This is especially true in media composing. And here to talk with me about it today are my guests Ari Posner and Joel Schwartz. They worked together composing the score to the acclaimed drama series “Sullivan’s Crossing” whose 2nd season premiered in the US in October 2024 on the CW, and kicks off its 3rd season on Canada’s CTV in the spring of 2025.

Today we are honored to have Deva Anderson and Rachel Lautzenheiser, two renowned music supervisors, joining us to share their insights on the film adaptation of August Wilson’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play, The Piano Lesson.

The two have worked together for more than a decade. Deva leads the music department at Tom Hanks and Gary Goeztman’s Production Company, Playtone, where she has overseen music for all their productions for over 25 years, including the Oscar-nominated film Greyhound, Band of Brothers, and The Pacific.

Rachel has played an integral part of the music department at Playtone as a rising Music Supervisor whose credits include Masters of the Air, Alaska Daily, and My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3.

Deva and Rachel also received two Guild of Music Supervisor nominations for Best Music Supervision in a TV Drama (Masters of the Air) and Best Music Supervision in a Mid-Level Budget Film (The Piano Lesson).

Today we’re talking with accomplished composer, Andrew Morgan Smith who has successfully navigated the world of both film and concert composition. We are diving into the technical details about work flow, working with orchestrators, scoring sessions that span the globe, and keeping up with latest technological innovations in the music world.

https://www.andrewmorgansmith.com/

Musicians often get stuck in the mindset of 'being chosen.' We practice and hope we are chosen for the masterclass. We audition and are chosen to fill a seat in the studio, or in the orchestra. We submit a demo and cross our fingers that we win the project. Kate Kayaian, Career Coach for High Performing Creatives, has made it her life's mission to help creatives thrive in their careers and take the steps they need to unlock their creative potential.

She joins us today to share her own story pivoting from a very successful career as a cellist to her new life helping other high-performing creatives. We discuss how fear gets in the way of creativity and growth, when it's time to pivot, when it's time to consult a career coach, and the value of community.

We also chat a bit about Kate's first full-length book, "Beyond Potential: A Guide for High-achieving Creatives Who Are Looking to Re-assess, Re-define, and Re-ignite Their Careers" which is due out in March 2025. It is available for preorder on February 25, 2025.

https://katekayaian.com/

https://talesfromthelane.com/

Instagram: @kkayaian

10 Habits of Successful Artists: https://mailchi.mp/b97d167bd642/10habits

The score for the BAFTA and Annie-nominated film, Kensuke’s Kingdom, is big, traditional, and symphonic. Directors Neil Boyle and Kirk Hendry initially conceived the project almost as a silent movie, as there is very little dialogue between the two lead characters, who do not speak each other’s language. The music plays a pivotal role in the story-telling, featuring a 60-piece orchestra and a 35-piece choir. Stuart handled every aspect of the music production – composition, orchestration, music editing, supervision of the mix, handling the budget, etc.

He joins us to discuss the highs and lows of this massive project: from the business/budget to the thematic and orchestral development of this gorgeous score.

He also shares his love of orchestral music from Stravinsky to John Williams, and gives his advice on scores to study and the importance of composing horizontally as well as vertically.

https://www.stuarthancock.com/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a2fTTVQwaWU

Steffen Thum is a German composer for film, TV, games and advertising, based in Berlin. With over 70 credits to his name, he has extensive experience across high profile studio films, independent cinema, TV and advertising campaigns.

Max Aruj is a composer born and raised in Los Angeles. His recent projects include MoviePass, MovieCrash (HBO), Lansky starring Harvey Keitel, and The Ice Road (Netflix) starring Liam Neeson.

Both are successful film composers with experience working on high profile projects with composers such as Lorne Balfe, Hans Zimmer and others.

They’re here to talk with us today about collaboration, lessons learned in their careers, and their work on the film “Betrayal.”

Topics Include:

*Working for another composer is another level of training and “school”

*The importance of working very cleanly and clearly in collaboration

*Work at a high level to hone your craft

*The importance of attention to detail

*Behind the score of “Betrayal”

*Advice for aspiring musicians

https://www.steffenthum.com/

https://maxaruj.com/

Robert Arzola is a freelance composer and music supervisor for Phantom Power based in the Atlanta, GA metropolitan area. After injury interrupted his plans of being a classical performer, Robert pivoted to composing. As a freelance composer, Robert has scored feature films for Reel One Entertainment, Lifetime, Lionsgate, and Feifer Worldwide along with the video game Tactical Breach Wizards. Robert has landed numerous placements in trailers as a composer, sound designer, and editor. As the music supervisor for Phantom Power, Robert helped release multiple albums and has helped Phantom Power acquire placements for various major campaigns. He is also a contributor for the YouTube channel, The Samplelist, where he does overviews of sample libraries.

Today we talk about his career, his pivot to composing, and we do a deep dive into his score for the game Tactical Breach Wizards.

https://robertarzola.com/

David Naroth is a Composer, Sound Designer, and all-around creative person. He loves creating and audio is his favorite outlet of that creativity! He loves experimenting with the traditional and non-traditional to create new perspectives in his compositions. He also loves to push himself to explore different genres of music and loves to work on all types of visual media formats.

Today David joins us to discuss his latest project, “Searching for Amani.” The documentary takes place In the heart of Kenya, where a tragedy shatters a young boy's life. The film had its world premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival on June 8, 2024. We also talk about creating sonic palettes and world building through sound, as well as sonically representing abstract concepts like climate change.

Topics Include:

-Sonically representing climate change

-Collaboration in composing

-The process of creating sonic palettes

-World building through sound

-Experimentation vs working fast

-The differences between documentaries and fiction projects

-Gear David can’t live without

-Finding source sounds and creating a sound library

-Sampling and re-sampling

https://www.davidnaroth.com/

https://www.searchingforamani.com/

Austin Weber first gained attention in 2018 with his original records and boundary-pushing music videos. His music and videos are vibrant collages of early YouTube blogging, David Attenborough documentaries, and heartbreak. His theatrical live shows feature puppet monsters, lucha libré matches, and Gregorian chant ceremonies.

With an upcoming solo record set to release in November 2024, and his involvement in scoring the recently Tribeca-premiered film Rent Free, Austin continues to push creative boundaries. His score for Rent Free uses homebuilt instruments and analog synthesizers alongside an original soundtrack of new songs to alternatingly ground and augment the chaos of your early 20s.

Topics include:

-Early success laying the track for a music career

-The fun of being your own boss vs. having a director

-Classical vs Media music....is there a difference?

-Classical music as a visual medium

-The “Cow tools” Plinko instrument – making new instruments for “Rent Free”

-Collaboration and communication in Music

https://www.austinweber.info/

https://www.youtube.com/@AustinWeber

https://open.spotify.com/prerelease/5h0rTGkBqbWz66GwvsgwzF?si=b675e9bced7f4c43

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt28626359/?ref_=ext_shr_lnk

My guest today is Dr. Erin Parkes, Founder and Executive Director of the Lotus Centre for Special Music Education. She is here to talk about her work with Adaptive Concerts, which are performances that are adapted for neurodivergent audiences that may respond differently to stimuli, and especially music.

ABOUT OUR GUEST:

Dr. Erin Parkes holds a Ph.D. in music education from McGill University, where she researched how to train studio music teachers to work with students with autism. In 2012, Dr. Parkes founded Lotus Centre for Special Music Education, a charitable organization committed to providing access to music education for people with

exceptionalities. In addition to her role at Lotus Centre, Dr. Parkes is an adjunct professor at the University of Ottawa, where she is also a principal researcher at the Music and Health Research Institute. Dr. Parkes presents at conferences and guest lectures internationally on teaching music to students with exceptionalities and other issues in music education.

MORE INFORMATION ON ADAPTIVE CONCERTS:

www.lotuscentre.net

https://www.chamberfest.com/series/2022/adaptive-concerts/

https://nac-cna.ca/en/stories/story/a-musical-experience-for-autistic-children

https://nac-cna.ca/en/video/series/the-music-circle

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/1321103X231214113

https://xeniaconcerts.com/