COMPOSERS

JEFF BEAL

NAINITA DESAI

CHRIS HAJIAN

MODERATED BY SCL NY STEERING COMMITTEE MEMBER

RAPHAELLE THIBAUT

Ripley-Grier Studios (520 8th Ave. Location)

520 8th Ave. Room 17N (17th Floor)

New York, NY, 10018

Located two blocks away from 34th St. – Penn Station and A, C, E, 1, 2, and 3 trains

Sunday, October 2 at 2:00 PM ET

Join us in-person for an exciting panel featuring some of the top talents in music for media as they discuss the ins and out of working across multiple genres and mediums. From feature films to TV series to video games, the panel will discuss topics such as avoiding being pigeon-holed in one genre, finding an appropriate sound for each project, and take some of your questions.

Jeff Beal is an American composer with a genre-defying musical fluidity. His work has been nominated for nineteen, and won five Primetime Emmy awards for scores for House of Cards (Netflix), Rome (HBO), Carnivale (HBO), Nightmares and Dreamscapes (TNT), Monk (USA), and Oliver Stone’s The Putin Interviews (Showtime). Noted film scores include the documentaries The Biggest Little Farm and Blackfish, and dramas Pollock (dir. Ed Harris), Shock and Awe (dir. Rob Reiner), and Apple TV+’s forthcoming Raymond & Ray (dir. Rodrigo Garcia).

Recent premieres include a co-commission from the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra and Eastman School of Music celebrating the 100th anniversary of the Kodak Hall, and his most recent recording project, The Paper Lined Shack on Supertrain Records featuring soprano Hilá Plitmann, the Eastman Philharmonia conducted by Leonard Slatkin, and the New Hollywood String Quartet. Special chamber arrangements of these works have been performed at Fotografiska in New York City, Arts at the Armory in Boston, and a forthcoming recital at The Colburn School in Los Angeles.

It would be at the Eastman School of Music that Jeff would discover both his musical voice, and the love of his life, soprano Joan Sapiro Beal, who frequently performs his music. In 2015, the couple donated funds for the creation of The Beal Institute for Film Music and Contemporary Media at Eastman. The Beals have also donated to fund the collaborative Music and Medicine initiative at the University of Rochester, having experienced the impact of music on health in their own lives.

Nainita Desai is a two-time Emmy and Ivor Novello nominee and RTS award winning composer, and is the World Soundtrack Awards 2021 winner for Discovery of the Year. A double BIFA and Cinema Eye Honors nominee; BAFTA Breakthrough Brit, and IFMCA Breakthrough Composer of the year 2019, Nainita was described by Empire magazine as one of the top 5 composers to watch for 2022 and leading UK film critic Mark Kermode’s Top 3 Film Scores of 2021.

Amongst various BAFTA, Oscar and Emmy acclaimed productions, Nainita’s recent projects include the Netflix documentary 14 Peaks: Nothing Is Impossible, produced by Oscar winner Jimmy Chinn, for which her score has earned Emmy, HMMA and ASCAP Composer Choice nominations, feature documentary Body Parts which premiered at Tribeca Film Festival 2022, as well as the interactive film-video game Immortality that released August 2022.

Desai’s other credits include Oscar 2020 nominated and BAFTA & Cannes winning feature doc For Sama, and Sundance winning The Reason I Jump, an immersive cinematic exploration of neurodiversity. Recent projects include BBC1 action thriller series Crossfire, Lucy Kirkwood drama Maryland, Bafta nominated American Murder, ITV crime drama series The Tower, as well as Kevin Macdonald’s The Story Of Us and Interactive film/video game Telling Lies, the acclaimed release by Annapurna Interactive.

Upcoming drama series include SKY/ NBCU’s Funny Woman (Gemma Arterton), a major drama series for Disney+, a landmark natural history series for Apple TV+, and Predators for Sky/Netflix.

Chris Hajian was born and raised in Queens, New York, beginning his musical education at the age of five, studying trumpet under his father, Edward, a professional musician in New York City. Chris’ formal training started at New York’s “Famed” High School of the Performing Arts, and continued at the Manhattan School of Music, where he studied classical composition.

Hajian’s film composition roots began during the indie film movement of the 90’s. Most notably, he composed the score to Ten Benny, selected for the 1996 Sundance Film Festival. He then composed the score for the compelling black and white drama Mr. Vincent that premiered at Sundance the following year in 1997. Other feature films of note include Yonkers Joe, The Take, and The Infiltrator, starring Bryan Cranston and Diane Kruger for which Hajian’s score received much critical acclaim and was released by Lakeshore Records. Other works include the TV Series Start Up (Sony/Crackle), City of Lies, Critical Thinking, Raul Julia – The World’s A Stage (PBS Masterworks), In Balanchine’s Classroom, Laddie, First Position, and Unraveled. In 2013, Hajian released a compilation album of his documentary scores titled Perspectives. Currently he is composing the score to the feature film Tin Soldier which stars Jamie Foxx and Robert DeNiro.

In addition to his composing career. He teaches Film Composition at NYU/Steinhardt and at Manhattan School of Music. He is very proud of his students and gets great joy from watching their careers grow and develop.

Raphaelle Thibaut is the composer of the Disney+ original series, Secrets of the Whales, which marks Thibaut’s first full television score. After she was born, Thibaut suffered from a series of severe ear issues that led to single-sided deafness. At age 4, following the doctor’s recommendations and guided by her music-loving parents, she started intense piano practice and music became her path to recovery. She studied in Northern France and Paris, where she lived until 2015. Thibaut’s musical interests were wide, ranging from romantic period composers, such as Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky and Sergei Rachmaninoff, to neo-classical and electronic music. A fan of film since her youth, she would capture movie soundtrack bites in theaters with her recorder to study them at home. From her early teens, Ennio Morricone, Jerry Goldsmith, and François de Roubaix scores were already playing on her Discman. 

In 2015, Thibaut decided to leave her marketing job at Google to pursue her lifelong passion for film scoring. She started writing for independent films and music houses and for brands like The Coca-Cola Company, Nike, and Ubisoft. Major players like KPM/Sony Pictures, Warner Music, and Audiomachine soon hired her to compose library albums for films and television. Determined to score for the movie industry, Thibaut also worked for various trailer houses and was featured in major Hollywood Productions, including Incredibles 2 and The Act. A long-time Parisian, Thibaut now lives in New York City with her husband and 2-year-old son. 

*** SCREENING + Q&A INFORMATION ***

Check-in begins 2:00 PM.

*Attendees must present Photo ID at the door*

If you RSVP but are unable to attend, please cancel your reservation by 10:00AM Saturday, October 1.

Free for current SCL members (click here to check your membership status)

Free for current AWFC members (look for code in your email)

Non-members: $35 / Student Non-members: $15

*Any non-member who joins the SCL within the 72 hours following the event will have the cost of their ticket applied to their membership.*

Please allow extra time for traffic and check-in.

This invitation is non-transferable.

Per New York state health guidelines, masks are recommended to be worn indoors at all times.

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