Sigma Alpha Iota

P A N P I P E S Summer 2021 11 11 SAI PHILANTHROPIES, INC. An Exploration of Screen Writing To learn more, visit: screenmusicprogram.com Alpha Phi initiate Alpha Phi initiate Krista Connelly Krista Connelly F rom July 20-30, 2020, Screen Music Program took place in an online setting rather than in Milan. During the program, I had two private lessons with composers Clint Bajakian and Paolo Tortiglioni and one colloquium-style lesson with Alison Plante. Participants listened to several lectures by these teachers that covered topics such as psychology and film music, the process of spotting (the early discussion between the director, composer, and sometimes the music team on musical aspects needed or desired in the film), and technological resources for composers and using them well. In addition, Diego Richiutti, a specialist from the video game sector, led many sessions that explained the game creation process and how sound is used. e culmination of these particular sessions was having the opportunity to score a short play-through of a video game with five other participants. Of special note were the three sets of masterclasses/lectures with guest artists Harry Gregson-Williams, Inon Zur, and Jeff Russo. It was immensely illuminating to hear their insight on how they personally go about scoring a film or game and their experiences and advice about the field. Most days included colloquiums that anyone could attend, where while watching others' lessons I gleaned information about the field that may not have arisen elsewhere in the program and observed teaching practices. Two months before the program started, participants were sent an optional task of rescoring a clip from a film or video game. Many of the colloquium sessions centered on these videos, though several participants had other video examples to share. Of the suggested set, I chose to rescore a scene from the film Arrival, a film I had not seen but that appealed to my tendencies in concert music composition. I received feedback during my colloquium session and it was chosen to be screened at the final event of the program, alongside nine other submissions. It was particularly interesting to hear the many ways this scene was rescored by other composers in the program, as it was a rather popular choice. ough having the program online made it harder to interact with my peers and the teachers, I enjoyed the opportunities that presented themselves to meet composers from around the world. Many, like me, were relatively new to the field of screen music and wanted to learn more. Overall the program le me with a sense of excitement about the career possibilities in all areas of screen composing, ideas on how to implement their advice into that and my concert music career, and confidence in being able to better guide students interested in this area. I particularly look forward to making demo audio of my works with a Spitfire library I purchased at the end of the program. As I work through this new technology, I look forward to acting on the myriad other suggestions made by the teachers and maintaining connections with my fellow participants through social media. For those interested in learning more about this topic, I cannot recommend the program enough! Krista Connelly, an initiate of Alpha Pi Chapter and a Lincoln Alumnae Chapter member, is a composer of contemporary art music and works in audio editing for Arts Laureate. She received a Professional Development/Education Grant from SAI Philanthropies, Inc. to aid in her attendance of this program.

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