ASA MEMBER SPOTLIGHT: Rachel Hardy

ASA Membership Level: Philharmonic

Composer, Musician: Vocalist, Media Creator

Members of the ASA Community can contact me for: Professional Opportunities, Mentorship, Remote Recording

GET TO KNOW RACHEL HARDY

I loved the Back to the Future score study! Back to the Future is one of my favourite films and Alan Silvestri’s score is a lot of fun. I really enjoyed the dialogue with the other members and was able to learn a lot about the score that way.

I am a 23-year-old composer and recent graduate; I received a Bachelor of Arts in Music from the University of Calgary and hold a professional certificate in composition for film and television from Berklee College of Music. In 2018 I attended Conrad Pope and Nan Swartz’s course at the Hollywood Music Workshop, and a year later I interned at Henry Jackman’s Sacred Tiger Music for 3 months. I am now working full-time composing music mainly for video games, while running a YouTube channel for covers and arrangements on the side.

Austin Wintory is one of my favorite composers and he has become a great mentor of mine who I admire and look up to!

Take risks! Try new things. I never thought I would get into writing music for games but after accepting my first one, I’m hooked! Don’t be afraid to take new opportunities and step out of your comfort zone.

I’m a huge nerd and I like to relax by making chainmail!

ASA BOARD MEMBER SPOTLIGHT: WILLIAM V. MALPEDE

ASA Membership Level: Board Member, Philharmonic

Composer, Orchestrator, Musician: Keyboardist, Engineer, Media Creator, Student, Educator

Members of the ASA Community can contact me for: Professional Opportunities, Mentorship, Remote Recording

GET TO KNOW WILLIAM V. MALPEDE

Interviewing and learning from legendary percussionist Emil Richards

Oh, let’s make it brief: Bachelors: Music Business, Elmhurst University, Grad Certificate-SMPTV: USC, US tours as multi-keyboardist: CATS, Joseph (Donny Osmond), Music of ALW (Melissa Manchester), Mamma Mia, dozens of other short runs, numerous indie feature and short film scores, “Quiet Is” and “Lucky Duck” songs for Disney Junior, score prep and synthestration for Christopher Young, library music for Extreme, Amplify Audio, FineTune, and Opus One, choral music awards and artists’ Residency at Helene Wurlitzer Foundation, orchestration for Martin Tillman (SUPERHUMAN coming in 2022), adjunct professor of film music history, CalState Northridge.

Bernard Herrmann

Believe in your talents. Believe in your skills. Practice and develop your Best. Have a positive outlook even when it gets tough, because at your core, you are built to succeed, and all that you need is out there waiting to connect with you!

Sorry, some are gonna be music-related! … The great UFO Coverup and Government Secrecy. Taos, New Mexico. Global climate change. Classic Cinema, especially Alfred Hitchcock. Fitness. Rock singers from the ‘Golden Era’ of classic rock. Jazz singers from the era of the Great American Songbook. Excellent coffee.

ASA BOARD MEMBER SPOTLIGHT: VICE PRESIDENT REUVEN HERMAN

ASA Membership level: Vice President, Board Member, Philharmonic

Composer, Orchestrator, Musician

Members of the ASA community can contact me for: Professional Opportunities, Mentorship

GET TO KNOW REUVEN HERMAN

Too many to count! But one great event that we put on was the score study of John William’s Catch Me If You Can. On a whim, I checked Facebook to see if I had any connections to Dan Higgins, who had played all the sax solos on the score. After reaching out, Dan graciously agreed to come speak about his experience working with John!

I am a film and visual media composer, conductor, and orchestrator, living and working in Los Angeles. I’ve composed music for multiple films, television shows, and video games, including Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Star Wars Rebels, Transformers: Robots in Disguise, Jane the Virgin, AMC’s Hell on Wheels, and the Activision title James Bond: 007 Legends.

I studied at the Rimon School of Music in Israel, then continued my studies at Berklee, where I was selected to conduct The Fellowship of the Rings in fronth of Howard Shore. The following year, my original composition, Now What, was chosen by popular vote as the commencement processional performed at my own graduation ceremony.

While living in Boston, I also served as the inaugural conductor of the VGO Video Game Orchestra, including orchestra, choir, and rock band, dedicated to playing music from well-known video games. In 2016, I was among the first class of Fellows of the LA Film Conducting Intensive, and conducted my own music in concert in Veracruz, Mexico, in 2019.

Since moving to Los Angeles in 2009, I’ve worked on music for films, television, and video games, as well as producing multiple soundtrack albums. I’ve collaborated with composers including Kevin Kiner, Penka Kouneva, and David Schwartz, and my music has been featured in numerous hit television series.

I’ve been serving as the Vice President of the Academy of Scoring Arts since 2014.

How could I not answer John Williams?

We are blessed to get to do what we love, and cursed to have to do what we love. It’s not easy, and giving into despair and cynicism is a constant danger. But don’t give up! Be kind to yourself and to others, and make yourself an active part of the community. There are many of us out there who share this passion for film music, and we are stronger and better when we’re together, supporting each other and lifting each other up.

I’m a pretty big gearhead. (My original dream was to be a car designer!) Also love movies and video games, and I am doomed by my family roots to cheer for Detroit sports teams, which is mainly an exercise in patience and frustration.