SCL NY Seminar: Composer – Orchestrator Collaboration

July 20, 2016 –

Join orchestrators Greg Pliska, Beth Ertz and Tony Finno and moderator Mark Roos for an in-depth discussion on the composer-orchestrator relationship.  We’ll examine the creative process of the orchestrator, different scoring approaches for larger and smaller ensembles, and how an orchestrator can improve an otherwise MIDI-based score.

GREG PLISKA | BETH ERTZ | TONY FINNO

MODERATED BY MARK ROOS
(Composer and SCL NY Steering Committee Member)

Greg Pliska

GREG PLISKA is a composer, orchestrator and conductor whose work spans Broadway, film, TV, commercials and pop recordings. He was musical director for the Tony-winning play War Horse, composer for the Broadway hit Sylvia, and has contributed score and arrangements to four Shakespeare in the Park productions: The Taming of the Shrew, Comedy of Errors, As You Like It (with Steve Martin, Drama Desk nom.) and Twelfth Night (with Hem, Drama Desk nom.). He was orchestrator for the new CBS Evening News theme (premiered in June), as well as the new IMAX theme music (now showing worldwide). Film orchestrations include The Infiltrator (composer, Chris Hajian, now in wide release), Manhattan Night (composer, Joel Douek), BAFTA-winning documentary Flying Monsters 3D (composer, Joel Douek), and more. His music can be heard on TV shows including “Life” (Discovery’s Emmy-winning series), Nova (“Hunting the Edge of Space”), and “Blood in the Water” (Discovery Shark Week special). He has orchestrated for and performed on albums by Tony Trischka, Carly Simon, James Iha, Hem, Karen Elson and Cat Power, Michael Stipe, and many others. His regional theater scores include Moss Hart award-winner In a Lake of Fire, and the opera The Secret Garden (libretto by David Ives). He was a 2010 Sundance Composers Lab Fellow. Greg is an SCL Board Member and head of the SCL-NY Steering Committee.

Beth Ertz

BETH ERTZ enjoys wearing several very different hats, changing them according to the world currently being inhabited. In Los Angeles, she worked for 20 years orchestrating and arranging for Elmer Bernstein and many other noted film composers, as well as composing her own scores for film and television.  As the film music world became more electronically oriented, Beth slowly built her own studio, using it for recording and record production as well as film scoring. In 2004, her arrangements and CD production were nominated for 3 Grammys.

While in Los Angeles, Beth wrote dance and production arrangements for the annual Academy Awards and for many concert and recording artists as diverse as Barbra Streisand, Willie Nelson, Placido Domingo, Chaka Khan, Stevie Wonder, producer David Foster and several Pops orchestras, to name just a few.

After moving to New York City, she became more active in the musical theatre and dance worlds, musically directing events at Town Hall, Symphony Space, Madison Square Garden, the York Theatre and other venues. She was music director, arranger and pianist for tributes honoring luminaries such as the late Marvin Hamlisch, Alan Menken, Sheldon Harnick, Joel Grey and Barbara Cook. She is currently Sheldon Harnick’s (Fiddler On The Roof, lyricist) music director and pianist for his musical, Dragons.

Beth was music director and/or pianist for countless shows that included A Chorus Line, The Fantasticks, Les Miserables, Jerome Robbins Broadway (with Jerome Robbins himself) and Fiddler On The Roof.  Beth also enjoys coaching a variety of singers and musicians, preparing them for their roles on Broadway and beyond, concerts, recordings and cabaret acts and preparing their written music for performance and auditions.

Tony Finno

Over a career spanning more than 3 decades, TONY FINNO’S varied background includes arranging/orchestration work for recording artists: David Byrne, Natalie Merchant & Bette Midler & TV shows: American Idol, The Singing Bee & HBO’s Big Love. Film work includes music preparation for over 60 films inclusion Noah, True Grit, Tower Heist & Hundred Foot Journey as well as having scored a dozen indie films.

Since 1995 he has orchestrated hundreds of national TV ads for every conceivable product including: Mercedes Benz, Volkswagen, Dunkin’ Donuts, Coca Cola, Xerox, Mastercard, McDonald’s, Burger King & many others.

Recent highlights include the premier recording of his orchestration of Claude Debussy’s Symphony in Bm (Naxos) and writing the horn arrangements on the recently released CD, “Love This Giant” by David Byrne & St. Vincent.

In 2011 Tony was the recipient of an Emmy Award for his contribution to the HBO miniseries “Mildred Pierce”.

Moderator

Mark Roos

Mark Roos was raised abroad in Vienna, Salzburg and France and grew up as a huge fan of classical music. A classically trained pianist and guitarist, Mark turned towards music as a way of connecting; “Connecting with myself, with others and with the world around me.” His teens and mid-twenties were filled with the usual rock and roll band aspirations, but as he got older, he returned to classical and symphonic music. It was then that he discovered his supreme talent for creating music in film/T.V. to connect the viewers with the director’s vision as well as their own hopes, dreams and even fears.

Mark Roos lives to connect the viewing audience with the message that is being conveyed on the screen in the most powerful way known to man- through music. His mediums of specialty include computer games, full-feature and documentary films, television programs, radio and custom music production. He successfully delivers high quality scores for such companies as Microsoft Xbox, Discovery Channel, Delta Airlines, Honda, U.S. Air Force, United Way, MSNBC, Eastman-Kodak, 3Com and many others.

7 Award Wins, 1 Nomination
Hollywood Music in Media Nomination, Best Score: “Michael Port Think Big Revolution”
Garden State Film Festival, Best Musical Score: “God’s Square Mile”
Student Academy Award, Best Musical Score: “The Vermeer’s”
American Advertising Federation ADDY, Best Musical Score: “Iomega Zip Disc”
Utah Broadcasters Association, Best Musical Score: “The Spear and The Lion: The British Zulu War”
Utah Broadcasters Association: Best Musical Score, “Wing and A Prayer: The Saga Of ‘Utah Man'”
Emmy Award, Best Musical Score, “Wing and a Prayer: The Saga of ‘Utah Man’”
America’s Freedom Festival at Provo: Best Score, “Let Freedom Ring”