The American dream, at least the musical version of it, is alive and well. Anyone who needs proof of this can simply ask Indian born guitarist and composer Nipun Nair. He left behind an extremely successful career in his homeland with the band Public Issue. The group was featured on India’s VH1 and MTV. Public Issue performed headlining tours, playing many festivals, and winning multiple awards (Nipun has won 20 awards for best guitarist in national level competitions). The loss of the band’s bass player in a tragic accident placed Public Issue on hiatus and, after some time away, Nair set his sights on furthering his career in America. In a narrative that seems too optimistic to be true, Nipun landed in LA and went straight to a T Mobile store to obtain cell service. The salesperson who sold him his cell plan was in a band called Destino with (at that time) an undiscovered singer named Anthony Cruz. The two exchanged information and within three days Edgar (the musician/ T-Mobile salesperson) called Nipun to play guitar in the band. Within Nair’s first week of living in the U.S. he was now booked at legendary clubs like the Whiskey a Go Go, the House of Blues, and many others on the iconic Sunset Strip. It wasn’t long before Anthony Cruz was discovered by Randy Phillips and Deborah Corday (music industry legends famous for work with Michael Jackson, Justin Bieber, Toni Braxton, and more). Nair began his role as the guitarist on Cruz’s songs with songwriter/producer Rafael Esparza Ruiz (known for his work with Santana, Ricky Martin, Chayanne, and many other world famous Latin artists). The Grammy nominated and ASCAP Award winning Rafael saw Nipun with Cruz onstage at a live performance and confirms that he was instantly aware that Nair was a major asset to the music. Esparza also used Nair to play guitar on a host of other Latin songs he was producing. One of these songs, “Inesperado” has already been selected by EMI music for future release by world-famous artist Anahi. Rafael states, “As an internationally renowned musician, Nipun was undoubtedly leading and crucial to the recording of the songs and to my studio.” He continues confirming, “It became immediately apparent to me upon working with Nipun that he was not simply a session musician, but an artist in his own right. I was amazed at the skill and mastery he has with the guitar. Needless to say, I was overjoyed with his work and would collaborate with him again in a second.” Not only delegated to the world of rock and pop music, Nipun composed music for The Little Theater in Nungambakkam, India. This brainchild of Aysha Rau provides a creative and educational outlet for children to explore the arts in a way not provided by the school system. The Little Theater has quietly been helping underprivileged children since 1991. Its original musical production of “The R.E.D. Bean Can” was one of only 6 productions selected from among 60 all over the world to play at the 22nd International Theater Festival for the youth at Hamaden, Iran. The Little Theater was recognized for its achievements and selected as #10 Best Theater in India by Broadway World. The productions, featuring Nair’s compositions, have played to sold out crowds across Europe and Asia. Nipun revels in the challenge and experience relating, “Working with the Little Theater has been nothing short of an adventure; always pushing the limits of our creativity. We push our productions each year to go one step further, often resulting in incredibly tight deadlines. It is an extremely creative and inspiring project for a musician to be a part of. I scored the most recent production of nine tracks within a week and a half. It turns out that some of your best work comes out when you are under pressure. I’m extremely proud of two productions I have done for The Little Theater. ‘Atita…The Curse of Xenu’ (a post apocalyptic sci-fi Broadway style musical for which I composed the music, trained the vocalists and musicians, and actively involved in brainstorming the plots of the script) and The R.E.D. Bean Can. Both received international attention.” Continuing his work in live theater here in the U.S., Nair became the in house composer for the Theater of Will, a non-profit arts education company based in southern California. Willard Simms is the president and artistic director. Simms has achieved major notoriety for his work in Biographical drama (winning the 2014 New York Theater Solo Fest award for Best Biography “Einstein: A Stage Portrait, which has also been aired on televisions in the U.S. for three years). Theater of Will is dedicated to biographical theater and school education programs. They stage dramatic presentations that extend the knowledge of great and influential historical figures on the public stage. Sponsored by LADWP, the musicals focus on the importance of water conservation in both an entertaining and educational format. Simms confirms, “Our shows could never have attained the degree of success that they have without the leading contributions of Nipun Nair.” The theater performs annually at the Grand Park in downtown LA every year (among other performances) and performs in front of thousands during the summer concerts and plays at Warner Park. Dreaming is a Private Thing, a film produced by Alan Sardana, taps into the increasingly popular concept of Artificial Intelligence. The film was featured at the Toronto Youth Festival and won the award for Best Production Design at the Ryerson University Film Festival in Canada. The question of “where does machine end and humanity begin” is approached in an original way in this tale (based on a short story by Isaac Asimov) of an android named Sam the sampler. Set in the distant future, Sam’s creator is the last filmmaker on Earth and Sam is essentially a camera in human like form. The cast includes Leo Lee (Swordfish, Contact, The Replacement Killers), Susie Park (Spider-Man 2, The Chaos Factor), and Dan Mousseau as Sam. The emotional theme of the film is one of birth, awareness, and even love. To enrich these themes and bring them to the surface, the filmmakers asked Nipun to create a score. What he composed is a dreamy and soothing soundscape that draws upon elements of blues and classical music. Dreaming’s director AJ Smith approached the composer after hearing some of his music online. Nipun recalls, “He [Smith] asked me if I’d like to score the film. I said ‘Absolutely!’ We were short on time, preparing for the festivals. They would send me scene after scene and I kept churning out music…we finished scoring the entire film within three days. It was crazy! I’m glad they were so happy with my work, especially considering the time frame we had to work with.” Director AJ Smith praises Nair commenting, “Upon the first listen, I was instantly impressed with the music Nipun created for the film. He seamlessly merged ambient electronic sounds with a more commercially minded orchestral score to tremendous success and effectiveness. It was a major achievement to have a score like this in our film.” As with many other modern composers and artists, Nipun has found an outlet for his talents in a somewhat more practical outlet avenue. Still exercising his creative abilities, Nair has been lead composer and musician for Rubecon Creative Solutions. Rubecon is a large, award-winning advertising agency in India known for national and international clients such as; Citiband, Ibaco, Arun Ice Cream, Prince Jewelry, and others. Nipun views working with Rubecon as a great opportunity noting, “Rubecon is a creative agency that is always looking to make their commercials as creative and big as possible. Working closely with their CEO and creative head Alexander Zach has been nothing short of inspiring. Working with Rubecon has helped me push the boundaries of my composition and to further my skills with each project.” Rubecon Creative Solutions has been recognized with awards like the Gold award at the Campaign for Dignity and the prestigious Silver Medal for the Times of India at the 2015 Goafest, proving that Nair’s talents have been a major contribution to the company’s impact. Nipur may soon be using his skills in the same arena here in the U.S. via a deal memo with Terremoto Productions. Terremoto is an audio production company founded by award-winning music composer Luis Guerra. His compositions have been featured in commercials for Honda, Samsung, and Mentos, as well as the Netflix documentary Art of Conflict and the Tina Fey feature film Whiskey Tango Foxtrot. Among other projects, Nipun would take part as a composer and musician for Disney Junior Channel’s Doc McStuffins. No doubt his time with The Little Theater will greatly aid in his ability to communicate with younger generations. With so many possible paths for Nipun’s career to steer towards, it will be interesting to witness how he navigates them all.
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Daniel Raijman is not only an experienced and immensely talented composer and orchestrator for film and media, but he’s also an accomplished musician. His musical journey started at the age of 8 in his hometown of Buenos Aires, Argentina where he discovered the world of Jazz and Blues. After a few years of learning the piano, he discovered his true passion was the guitar. Raijman’s desire to learn everything there is to know about string instruments and his unwavering devotion to the art of composition is what sets his work apart from the rest. “I’m passionate about music because every time I play, compose or listen to music, I feel I’m connecting with myself as well as with others throughout this incredible universal language,” he said. His first taste of the music industry was when he played guitar and composed his first album with the band Quinta Estacion, a contemporary Jazz quartet. From 2006-2009 he toured with Orquesta Kef through Argentina and Uruguay and in 2010 he formed the group Pentafono, a contemporary jazz quintet. In 2012 he produced “Imagem Imortal”, Rosario Barreto’s first album and in 2014 he played guitar and co-produced with Orlando Perez Rosso “Música Ocañera Volumen 2”. He was also able to play with Gastón Poirier and Gabriela Echevarria during the Raijman-Poirier Duet Show in 2014, and one of his songs, "Lo Que Mueve Las Cosas," wfor brands like Fibertel, Epson,ional camapings rier Duet Show and in ed piano and composed as well, Manuel Jauregui played bassas included in Echevarria´s second Album "Alli”. Since then, Raijman has been working independently as a musician and composer with various instrumental groups and notable companies like Coca-Cola, American Airlines and Epson. He also recently worked as a guitarist for singer and actress, Christina Maria Davis. His multidimensional educational background has allowed him to have his hands in numerous stages of the production process from composing and arranging to recording and mastering. In addition to his love of music, he has developed a fascinating ability in film scoring. Raijman grew up in awe of Spielberg’s ability to create a story and John Williams’ impressive imagination to create an equally imaginative score. The combination of creating music for film was the perfect outlet for Raijman’s talents. “Music is often used in film to describe what is not on the screen but rather in your heart,” Raijman said. “When a great score is fully integrated to a film, we can experience the magic of this art.” This lifelong fascination with music and film has led him to multiple degrees, including a specialization in Film and Television Orchestration from the prestigious Berklee College of Music in Boston. He also graduated with distinction from the UCLA Extension Film Scoring program. In addition to his schooling, Raijman has had the privilege to perfect his craft with some of the most influential names in music, including Pino Marrone, Franciso Rivero, Walter and Javier Malosetti, Oscar Giunta and Hernan Jacinto. Another notable name Raijman has had the opportunity to work with is the talented filmmaker and producer Angelo Agojo. Raijman and Agojo worked together on the film An Opening to Closure, which Raijman played guitar and composed the music for. The film went on to earn multiple Official Selections from the 2015 Los Angeles Lift-Off International Film Festival, Las Vegas Lift-Off International Film Festival, Hollyshorts Film Festival and Asians on Film Festival. Raijman also mixed the documentary 15 Años Sin vos, which went on to earn an Official Selection at the 2008 Jewish International Film Festivals in Uruguay and Spain and the 10th Human Rights International Film Festival in Argentina. Some of his most recent film work this year is playing guitar for the movie Triggerfish, preparing the score for the film Meet My Valentine and composing the score for the documentary 8 Seconds: Humane Decision Making Of The IDF. In the article "Jurassic World composer on John Williams, making the new music his own" published Monday by Entertainment Weekly, C. Molly Smith writes, "John Williams’ Jurassic Park score is just as remarkable and memorable as the dinosaurs at the center of Steven Spielberg’s 1993 action-adventure blockbuster"; and we couldn't agree more. In the same way that a sound or melody can make us recall experiences from our own lives, John Williams' film compositions have left an indelible mark on the memories of fans around the world. The five-time Oscar Award winning composer has undoubtedly influenced and inspired a great number of composers, like Canadian native Shaun Chasin, as well. Chasin, who has found incredible success as a composer, says, "The two biggest influences that finally led to my choice of becoming a composer for film and video games were the Star Wars movies, with the fantastic and legendary scores by the great John Williams, and the video game "The Legend of Zelda: The Ocarina of Time," with it’s score by Koji Kondo." Chasin's dynamic creative talents as a sound designer and composer are more accurately brought into perspective when considering the astonishing diversity of his body of work. Like Williams, Chasin has liaised between composing for films and video games with ease thanks to his refined understanding of how each musical composition uniquely affects a viewer or user's overall experience. In the film industry some of Chasin's accomplishments as a composer include the films Ice Cream Man, Last Patrol, Nancy, Promises, Visitant, Salad Days, The Time Traveler and many more. In the world of video games Chasin's work has helped bring users into the virtual realities of games like "Pot Break," "A Hobbit's Quest," "Lama Drama," "Visage," "Geometry Saga," "Lodu Queue," "Adrift," "S8 Bingo," and "Hektor." "At the end of the day, I have a strong relationship with film and games because I have an intrinsic need to be a storyteller," explains Chasin. "My music in all of these cases helped to heighten the emotional context of what was happening on screen. The goal is to help in telling the story without being obtrusive so that the final product is one cohesive thing." Chasin's ability to create music that strikes a subtle balance and effectively drives home the emotional aspects of a story without dominating a viewer's senses is immediately apparent in Andrew Wood's film 11-Minute Mile, which aired nationally across the U.S. on PBS earlier this year. The film follows an arrogant day-trader who is forced to take a pause and reevaluate what matters in life when his flight is delayed due to the Boston marathon bombings, leaving him stranded with his thoughts as he worries whether his best friend who was running in the marathon made it out alive. "This was a particularly moving project for me to work on. I attended Berklee College of Music in Boston so I lived there for about 4 years. I had many friends there at the time of the bombing," admits Chasin. "For the score, I looked to the emotional potential of synthesized sounds to try to create the feeling of the main character’s inner turmoil and worry. The music was heavily inspired by Sigur Ros." There is a huge difference between a composer's work that is intended to stand alone, and that which is intended to accompany a film, television project or video game. Over the course of his career Chasin has refined his skills as a film and video game composer with an acute understanding of not only what style of music is best for a project, but also, when to include music in order to intensify the story, and when to let silence speak for itself. "Silence in the music can be a very powerful story telling device and create a heightened sense of realism in a moment," says Chasin. Whereas Chasin best executed his work as the composer for the film 11-Minute Mile by allowing the necessary space for the main character's inner turmoil and understandable panic to come across through vital periods of silence, the six-part documentary series Ho Yaqeen required Chasin to take a completely different approach. Directed by Oscar Award winning director Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, Ho Yaqeen follows the contributions of unsung heroes in Pakistan. The fact that each episode featured a new individual and consequently, a totally different subject matter, Chasin says, "allowed each episode to have a different and unique musical sound." The first episode of the series follows Sabina Khatri who founded a preschool in the violent neighborhood of Lyari five years ago as an educational segue for the local youth to escape the gang afflicted area. Chasin brilliantly engages viewers with a strong and steadily rising drumbeat accompanied by bells and horns that magnify the rapid pace of the people on the streets of Pakistan in the opening scene. As the episode progresses and the interviewer goes further in depth into the story interviewing the children about their experience at the school and the myriad of ways this opportunity has changed their future for the better, Chasin adjusts his score accordingly. By transitioning his composition to the sweet and subtle sound of piano as the children disclose their experiences, he helps create a feeling of hopeful whimsy driving home the fact that their futures are full of endless possibility. It is this ability to adapt and patiently decipher the needs of each individual project that separates Shaun Chasin from the plethora of other composers working across the globe today. And as his work continues to be recognized across continents, and filmmakers and game designers clamor to land him as a contributor to their projects, fans can bet that they will be seeing, or rather hearing, a whole lot more from this young composer for decades to come. Originally from Oshawa, Ontario, Canada, Rob Teehan had already created an impressive repertoire of work as a musician before embarking on a career as a composer for film, an area in which he has reached incredible success. At age 27, Rob Teehan was nominated for a Juno Award, the Canadian equivalent of a Grammy, for “Classical Composition of the Year” for his composition “Dreams of Flying,” which made him the youngest nominee in the history of the category. The master of several musical instruments and a highly sought after composer for classical music, Teehan received two music degrees from the University of Toronto and Indiana University, before undertaking an apprenticeship with multi-award winning film composer Rob Carli. Carli, who has received three Gemini Awards, is known for his work on over 50 film and television programs including the Canadian hit television series Murdoch Mysteries, Cracked and Unnatural History, as well as the films Survival of the Dead and The Terrorist Next Door.
Teehan’s extraordinary skills as a tuba player led the director of a short film to request him as a composer for his film several years ago, a fated collaboration that would spark Teehan’s interest and later his career as a composer for film. Teehan says, “I didn’t know what I was doing but I jumped into it and we had a lot of fun, it was a really quirky score, and I was nervous trying to do the job but I enjoyed the challenge of it.” Although Teehan had already been playing and composing music professionally for over decade when the opportunity to work in film presented itself, he admits that despite the international success he had achieved as a musician there was still a void, a challenge that was missing. Through his experience composing for film Teehan not only discovered the challenge he was looking for but a career he could dedicate his life to as well. In 2012 he scored the award-winning documentary The Sugar Bowl, which won Best Documentary and the coveted Festival Prize at the Aesthetica Short Film Festival, and screened as an Official Selection at the Atlanta Film Festival. Shot on an island in the Philippines that once thrived in wealth from a booming sugar industry, the documentary focuses on the aftermath of a now, somewhat agriculturaly baren region, and the decades of famine, despair, and political turmoil that have plagued the island since it’s thriving period. A beautifully shot film that is poetic from beginning to end, Teehan’s score gives the visual imagery emotional depth and drives home the story in a way that is both powerful and touching. More recently, Teehan scored the feature documentary The Babushkas of Chernobyl, which is set for release this year. The film is about hundreds of elderly Ukranian women who dare to live out the rest of their lives in their homeland, despite the fact that it is a high-risk radiation zone due to the Chernobyl nuclear disaster that hit in 1986. The film was directed by Holly Morris, a former National Geographic Adventure columnist and contributor to The New York Times, “O,” and MORE magazine, and Anne Bogart, a television producer and director who’s known for her work on the PBS travel series Globe Trekker. Teehan’s score adds to the film’s unique allure with his inclusion of traditional Ukrainian folk instruments and his own style of dark, ambient, electronics, which illustrate the tension between the vibrant traditional lifestyle and the modern, synthetic world. Since discovering his true calling as a composer for film, Rob Teehan has become a highly sought after talent in the Canadian film industry. Aside from The Babushkas of Chernobyl and The Sugar Bowl, he has created original scores for the films Tulip, Texas and Us, The Unsinkable Captain John, Hogtown, Joe, The Power of One, Safe Socks, Many Choices, Life as a Coin, Flor De La Mar and others. From his proven track record of success, it is guaranteed that Teehan’s musical talent is one that will continue to impress audiences around the globe. Born and raised in Bury St. Edmunds, in Suffolk, England, Alex Redfern has been dazzling international audiences over the last few years with his incredible talent as a composer for film and television. Redfern realized his passion for both music and film early on in his youth, but at the time he never imagined that the two mediums would someday intertwine and provide him with the successful career he enjoys today. After receiving his B.A. from the UK’s Leeds College of Music, Redfern went on to obtain a Masters of Music in Scoring for Film, Television and Video Games at the renowned Berklee College of Music. During his time at Berklee College of Music, Redfern was recognized for his extraordinary abilities as a composer and was the recipient of the prestigious Friends of Leeds College of Music Prize in Music Production, an award that is given to the top student in the course. Redfern’s most recent film projects as a composer include Happy Face, Tumbleweed: A True Story, and the film Sisterhood of The Red Garter 3D, which is scheduled for release next year. In addition to working as a composer, Redfern has also played a critical role in the music department of the films The Curse of The Un-kissable Kid, Larsons Field, Penguin Trek, Holy Land, Varanasi and Disney’s upcoming film Cinderella. Redfern displayed his ability to seamlessly blend and heighten the energy of each scene and the overall film with his fantastical musical creations in Marc Juvé’s film Happy Face. “It is an adventure film, Marc chose me to score the film after I did a demo to one of the scenes,” explained Alex Redfern. “It is a great Spielberg-esque film with an orchestral score, which I got to record in Spain.” A Spanish film, Happy Face follows an innocent and awkward young boy named Lucas who is promised acceptance into the cool kids group if he can retrieve a certain hidden treasure from a frightening old man’s eerie mansion. Redfern ingeniously created the film’s musical composition in a way that builds an incredible parallel story alongside the visual aspects of the film. The composer used subtle sounds to build the audience’s anticipation and curiosity as Lucas scours the house, sounds which, upon the fateful moment of the treasure’s discovery, culminate in a magnificent crescendo as if to say “Eureka!” “The fantastical music in Happy Face played a huge part in the movie. The protagonist is searching for the fabled treasure so I tried to make that theme magical. I used celesta, a type of keyboard that uses metal instead of strings to create a light and mysterious sound, as well as the flute, harp and shimmering strings, which resulted in a mystical sound and shows the elation of the protagonist when he finds the treasure,” said Redfern. Happy Face was produced by ESCAC Films, the production company responsible for the films Knifed, Dinosaurio, which received the Nova Autoria Award at the 2013 Catalonian International Film Festival, Los Inocentes, Timothy, Mano a Mano, as well as many others. To find out more about Alex Redfern’s work, and to listen to some of his original compositions you can check out his website: www.alexredfernmusic.com or go to his Soundcloud Page: www.soundcloud.com/alexnmt and check out the trailer for Happy Face below! Happy Face · trailer from Marc Juvé on Vimeo. |
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