What’s going on…
RICK’S MUSIC IN 4 FILM FESTIVALS:
The feature documentary Rick recently completed the score to, Power & Control: Domestic Violence in America, premiered on April 20, 2010 at the Minneapolis/St. Paul International Film Festival.
Rick recently completed the soundtrack to his third collaboration with filmmaker Caroline Kava, the narrative short film “Jesus, Maria” (imdb.com/title/tt1462533). ”Jesus, Maria” premiered at the Los Angeles Women’s International Film Festival on March 27, 2010; other festival screenings include the 5th Annual Kent (Connecticut) Film Festival and the West Chester (Pennsylvainia) Film Festival — both on April 24, 2010 .
The Rick Baitz Film Scoring Workshop – Second section – is in process!
This is an intensive, hands-on course in composing for film and television, designed for the composer who has some film music experience and would like to know more about the field of film scoring, and for the songwriter and composer who would like to branch out into film. There will be seven classes in the Spring of 2010, taking place in Rick Baitz’s centrally-based studio in Manhattan. Film composing will be explored from multiple angles: historical, technical, psychological, cultural, kinesthetic. Students will compose cues to a variety of scenes, culminating with a final project that will be recorded with top-notch New York instrumentalists. Students will walk away from the workshop with greater confidence in their skills as film composers, a strong cue for their reel, an increased knowledge of the business of film music and a deeper understanding of the art of composing for the screen.
Qualifications: Experience and credits as a composer; ability to read music; some experience composing for film preferred.
Contact Rick Baitz at filmmusic@rickbaitz.com for more info and application.
The 2009 BMI Film Scoring Mentorship Program wraps!
Rick Baitz directed the 2009 BMI-Sponsored Film Scoring Mentorship Program, which ran from Sept. 17 to Oct. 22, 2009. Consisting of a series of seminars, workshops, recording sessions and guest lectures, the classes took place at the luxuriant and well-appointed Media Room in BMI’s New York City headquarters. For the final project, members of the ETHEL string quartet recorded live cues composed by all nine particpants, engineered and produced by the amazing Wade Tonken. The final meeting featured Acadamy Award-winning guest composer David Shire. During the next year, regular follow-up sessions for career development and consultation will be held with the group.
For more info go to bmi.com/news/entry/540259.
And to hear the cues and see more pics, go to COMPOSING FOR THE SCREEN’s Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=302384305713.
The String Quartet…
Rick Baitz’s String Quartet, CHTHONIC DANCES, PART I, was premiered by the eminent, rocking, downtown string band ETHEL at the Williams Center for the Arts at Lafayette College in Easton, PA, on Friday, Sept. 4, 2009. Other performances: Grand Canyon Music Festival on Sept. 11; Santa Fe New Music Sept. 22; Brooklyn Central Library Oct. 4; Festival of New American Music (Sacramento) Nov. 13.
Read an interview with Rick Baitz and Cornelius Dufallo, violinist in ETHEL, at ethelcentral.com/blog.
In November ’09, Rick was awarded a Composers Assistance Program grant from the American Music Center for his string quartet, CHTHONIC DANCES, PART 1. Rick is currently working on a longer, multi-part version of CHTHONIC DANCES.
Body & Soul:
BODY & SOUL: DIANA & KATHY, a PBS documentary scored by Rick Baitz, had its broadcast premier beginning Oct. 9 . Directed by Academy Award-nominee Alice Elliott, the film is a look at an unusual, symbiotic relationship between two people some would call profoundly disabled. It has already won numerous festival awards, including being short-listed for an Academy Award nomination.