Scoring for Film and Multimedia
Department of Music and Performing Arts Professions
New York University


Scoring for Film and Multimedia," is a 45 point Masters level curriculum, designed within programs for Music Composition and Music Technology. The Music Composition program places an emphasis on composing for Film/TV and multimedia, including interactive performance, silent film, and multimedia & web-based media. Within the Music Technology program, areas such as music editing, sound design, recording & mixing, and sound synthesis are addressed. However, in today's ever changing professional environment, a composer often takes on roles lying far outside of traditional training. Students are encouraged to develop an eclectic skill set: composing, engineering, editing, orchestrating, MIDI-mockups, sound design, and producing.

A broad variety of workshops and conferences have been presented for both composers and scholars. In an ongoing collaboration with NYU's Tisch School of the Arts' Maurice Kanbar Film Institute, student films with live accompaniment are presented yearly at The Film Society of Lincoln Center's series: Toons, Tunes, and Trikfilms. Collaborations with ASCAP, the Local 802 A.F. of M., and the Film Music Society have resulted in such large-scale projects as the annual NYU/ASCAP Film Scoring Workshops. These and other opportunities often culminate in recording sessions with orchestras comprised of New York City's top-tier musicians. Our Film Scoring classes regularly feature live recordings with ensembles, simultaneously training our instrumental majors in the rigors of studio recording.

At the nerve-center of practice and theory, the Film ScoringProgram in Steinhardt offers M.A. and M.M. degrees, and a composition faculty who have worked on over 60 feature films, and have garnered three Guggenheim Fellowships. The faculty includes Sonny Kompanek, Deniz Hughes, Justin Dello Joio, and Marc Consoli. Industry guests regularly present seminars, and have included Leonard Rosenmann (Rebel Without a Cause), the late Buddy Baker (The Fox and the Hound), Marco Beltrami (Terminator 3), and Mark Snow (X-Files). Music editor Roy M. Prendergast (Shakespeare in Love) has offered numerous seminars. Ron Sadoff and renowned conductor and musicologist Gillian B. Anderson serve as the co-directors of the East Coast branch of the premiere preservationist Film Music Society, housed in the Music Department.