
My dad was a middle school band and orchestra teacher — my middle school band and orchestra teacher. Witnessing his life-long influence on students has led me to the realization that, while accolades and awards might be nice, music is a vehicle by which one generation influences the next. Not just in music but myriad life skills.
I find my greatest satisfaction in mentoring and teaching.



Creating music that sounds like film music is different from being a film composer.

Mastery of the current musical trend is not what one should concentrate on. To the fully-informed screen composer, adapting to whatever style or trend is appropriate should be the easy, fun part. There is always help available for ethnic scores and genre-specific styles.
It is the non-musical skills, the dramatic skills, the people skills that form the core of a successful career as a screen composer and deserve time and study. These skills vary little from project to project and decade to decade.
For example:
-
"Spotting" is a skill that applies as much to a turn-of-the-century film as it does to a documentary about Hip Hop.
-
Every workplace conversation with the director, editor or anyone who is not a screen composer requires thought, skill and semantic concession from time to time.
-
Knowing how to nurture creativity when it seems the muse is on vacation and the deadline is looming.
These are a few of the skills possessed by the fully-informed professional and the subjects of my videos and lectures.