Biography
COMMERCIAL MUSIC
Specializing in:
big orchestral and choral works, suitable for drama, adventure and romantic comedy.
But a perverse side permits a wide variety of styles. After all, how many composers have orchestrated for a member of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, orchestrated Mendelssohn for Phyllis Diller's orchestra, and also studied at IRCAM and the Schoenberg Institute?
Compositions have been used in retail TV ads, (for Ross and DDs), and movies and TV shows, such as: Aliens in the Attic, 21 (w/Kevin Spacey), X-Men 3, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Without a Trace, Bridget Jones, Shrek, Click, Herbie Fully Loaded, the Amazing Race, the Andy Dick Show and Taken. (see Credits page)
CONCERT MUSIC
Awards include:
• International Music Prize for Excellence in Composition, Colorado
• Henri Mancini MP/TV Music Award,
• BMI Award
• Borromeo String Quartet Award
• Brandenburg Symphonic Orchestra award for Chamber Music
• Aspen Institute for Advanced Compositional Studies Fellowships (2)
- each under both Jacob Druckman and Bernard Rands.
• Lee Ettleson Award, of Composers, Inc. (1st place)
• American Music Center CAP Grants (4)
• Pacific Composers Association Competition Awards (2)
• Commission funded by the S. Mark Taper Foundation
• Fellowship at the Ernst Bloch Festival in Oregon under Chinary Ung
Selected Works:
Two Pieces for Piano Quintet performed at the Hear Now Festival in Venice, California
String Quartet #2, Kwasi's Revenge performed by the Borromeo String Quartet at the Taos School of Music July 19, 2009, and by by the Penderecki Quartet at the Casalmaggiore International Music Festival in Italy in 2006. In 2012, the Lyris Quartet performed it as part of the Hear Now Festival in Venice, California
Aspen Quartet performed by the Chroma Quartet at the Gran Place in Brussels, by the Del Sol, and by the Arditti String Quartet at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, who also recorded the work on an Albany Records CD
Pater Noster premiered by the Gregg Smith Singers in April, 2008 at St. Peter's Church in Manhattan as part of the NEA American Masterpieces Choral Music Festival
EDUCATION
PhD, Composition - UCLA Department of Music - Dissertation: “Why Does Stravinsky Always Sounds Like Stravinsky? Serial Stravinsky and Style Analysis”
Teachers: Henri Lazarof, Paul Reale (Composition), Elaine Barkin (Theory), Aube Tzerko (Piano), Bess Karp (Harpsichord), Robert Winter (History)
NEA Fellowship - Worked under Leonard Stein at USC’s Schoenberg Institute. Wrote article “The Harmony of Schoenberg’s Ode to Napoleon Buonaparte”, using a set theory approach
LEGAL WORK
Expert witness in copyright infringement matters, and a case of head trauma where hearing loss resulted
Evaluated databases in a probate matter
Uncovered 'deleted emails' from a server and laptop revealing unfair competition in a business dispute
RANDOM ACTS OF KINDNESS
Taught composition, electronic music and music theory at: UC Santa Barbara, UCLA, El Camino College; Scripps College Claremont; and the California State University Campuses at Long Beach and Los Angeles
President of the Independent Composers Association, a non-profit corporation devoted to producing concerts and promoting the work of local composers. Resigned in the late 90’s
Written for Perspectives of New Music, Electronic Musician, the L.A. Reader and Keyboard Magazine. He has been the technical editor for several Prentice Hall publications (Que’s Big Mac Book; Excel for Mac). Wrote “Tutorial: Arranging String Sections” for Steinberg’s Halion String Edition, Vol. 1, a sample library
My First Teacher