FACULTY
MEET OUR INSTRUCTORS
A team of award winning professionals and educators in line with the mission of our institution.
PATRICK KIRST
University of Southern California
Berklee School of Music
FSC 302 COMPOSITION AND ANALYSIS
INDIVIDUAL LESSONS, MEET & GREET, WORK ON SKETCH, CRITIQUE OF WORKS – 26 hours
An award-winning composer and arranger, Patrick Kirst is the Director of the Screen Scoring Program at Thornton School of Music – University of Southern California – Los Angeles. Kirst is an integral part of the burgeoning Los Angeles media industry and continues to share classic composition techniques and new innovations through his countless productions (Netflix Kissing Booth, Inherit the Viper, Breaking Surface, No Ordinary Life). Personal website
LAWRENCE SHRAGGE
University of Southern California
FSC 302 COMPOSITION AND ANALYSIS
INDIVIDUAL LESSONS, MEET & GREET, WORK ON SKETCH, CRITIQUE OF WORKS – 26 hours
Lawrence Shragge is an award-winning composer. Born and raised in Montreal, Quebec, Lawrence earned a degree in Music Composition at Berklee College of Music in Boston, MA and did additional studies at Eastman School of Music in Rochester, NY. He is a true musical explorer who’s written over 200 scores for feature films, TV movies, documentaries, and television series in a myriad of styles including: ambient, intimate, roots, world music, and large orchestral scores.
PETE ANTHONY
University of Southern California
FSC 340 ORCHESTRATION – LECTURES AND INDIVIDUAL LESSONS – 14 hours
Pete Anthony is one of the busiest orchestrators and conductors in the Los Angeles film industry. In his 30-plus years in the business, he has worked on over 600 feature films with Hollywood’s top composers, including James Newton Howard, Danny Elfman, Ludwig Göransson, John Powell, Marco Beltrami, Marc Shaiman, John Debney, Theodore Shapiro and Christopher Young (The Sixth Sense, Tenet, Spider-Man I-III, News of the World, Terminator 3, South Park, Raya & the Last Dragon, The Devil Wears Prada, Species and Men in Black III, among others.) Anthony brings to his job an intuition for the art of orchestration, an enormous respect for his musician colleagues, and a spirit of collaboration with composers and filmmakers. He is known for his discerning ear and quick wit on the podium. Anthony also composes music for film and the concert hall, with works performed by the Cincinnati Pops and the Los Angeles Philharmonic.
ANNA DRUBICH
FSC 302 COMPOSITION AND ANALYSIS
INDIVIDUAL LESSONS, MEET & GREET, WORK ON SKETCH, CRITIQUE OF WORKS
Anna Drubich is an award-winning film composer from Moscow. Anna discovered her love for music at an early age and began piano lessons at the age of 8. She studied at the Moscow Chopin Music College and earned her Bachelor and Master’s degrees at the Munich School for the Performing Arts in 2008.
Anna’s first film music project was the score to the film “About Love” in 2002, which went on to receive the Best Music Award at the Russian National Film Festival Kinotavr. After her quick success in Russia, Anna decided to pursue her studies in Film Composition at the Munich School for the Performing Arts. In the summer of 2010, Anna was chosen as one of 5 composers worldwide to spend a month in Aspen, Colorado, studying and composing with major Hollywood composers Jeff Rona, David Newman and Jack Smalley. In May 2012, Anna graduated from the University of Southern California where she finished the prestigious Scoring for Motion Pictures and Television program. In the summer 2018, Anna won a Composer fellowship at the renowned Sundance Film Music lab. Anna was also nominated for a Golden Eagle Award, the Russian Academy awards, for her score to Bolshoy. Her diverse body of work includes live action features, animated features, television series, documentaries and plays and concert halls across the world. Anna has scored over 35 major film and TV projects from the US, Denmark, Germany, Russia, Spain and Egypt.
Some of Anna’s work includes the Russian period drama Odessa, a co-score with Oscar-nominated composer Marco Beltrami on the Guillermo Del Toro adaption Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, the horror-comedy Werewolves Within, Netflix’s hit feature Fear Street: 1994, the wildly successful horror feature Barbarian starring Bill Skarsgard, and the 2022 Sundance Audience award-winning documentary Navalny, which won the 2023 BAFTA and Oscar for Best Documentary.
MARCO BELTRAMI
Composer
FSC 400.1 COMPOSITION MASTERCLASS
American composer and conductor of film and television scores. He has worked in a number of genres, including horror (Scream, Mimic, The Faculty, Resident Evil, The Woman in Black, A Quiet Place), action (Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, Live Free or Die Hard, World War Z), science-fiction (I, Robot, Snowpiercer), Western (3:10 to Yuma, Jonah Hex, The Homesman), and superhero (Hellboy, The Wolverine, Logan). A long-time collaborator of Wes Craven, Beltrami scored seven of the director’s films including the original four Craven-directed films in the Scream franchise (1996–2011). He has also worked with such directors as James Mangold, Guillermo del Toro, Tommy Lee Jones, Alex Proyas, Ole Bornedal, Kathryn Bigelow, Bong Joon-ho, Dan Gilroy, and John Krasinski. He has been nominated for two Academy Awards for 3:10 to Yuma (2007) and The Hurt Locker (2008), and a Golden Globe Award for A Quiet Place (2018). He won a Satellite Award for Soul Surfer (2011) and an Emmy Award for Free Solo (2018).
FRANCO PIERSANTI
Composer
FSC 400.1 COMPOSITION MASTERCLASS
Franco Piersanti, born in Rome (1950), is a renowned Italian composer in applied music for cinema, theatre, and television. For over forty years, he has been known for his original and evocative musical style, blending sharp irony with melancholic lyricism. His work reflects both the legacy of the twentieth century and the rich Mediterranean musical heritage. Piersanti avoids traditional musical commentary, focusing on a more “suggestive” style. His career is notably linked with filmmakers Nanni Moretti and Gianni Amelio, emphasizing essentiality and expressive dryness. He began film composition in 1976 with Moretti’s “Io sono un autarchico,” leading to a long-term collaboration. His works also include partnerships with Amelio and other directors like Ermanno Olmi, Bernardo Bertolucci, and Daniele Luchetti. Piersanti’s music, known for capturing the human spirit and film settings without clichés, has been critical in TV series like “Il commissario Montalbano.” His contributions extend to animated films, notably for “Corte Sconta detta Arcana” (2001). In theatre, Piersanti has composed for numerous productions, including works inspired by Francisco Goya and Luigi Pirandello. His concert music catalog boasts various orchestral and chamber compositions, reflecting themes like nature and human emotions. Despite limited teaching, Piersanti has conducted composition courses, sharing his expertise with aspiring musicians. He founded the “Georges Méliès” youth orchestra, emphasizing the development of young talents. Piersanti’s innovative and expressive music has earned multiple national and international awards, including the UCMF prize at Cannes 2007 and several David di Donatello awards. His work remains a significant influence in contemporary music for visual media.
TIMOTHY HULING
Composer – Producer
FSC 340 ORCHESTRATION – LECTURES AND INDIVIDUAL LESSONS
Tim Huling is a composer, orchestrator, producer and educator who works in music for film, TV, video games, the concert hall, and more. His credits include films such as Georgia Rule and Mad Money; TV shows such as Little People, Big World and Inside Passage; video games such as Planetary Annihilation and Skyrealm; and installations such as Hunger Games at the Motiongate Theme Park and Great Seattle Fire at MOHAI. Tim has enjoyed concert premieres, including works for symphony orchestra, chamber ensemble, various jazz works, and two ballets. In 2014, Tim was proud to return to his alma mater, the Film Scoring Department at Berklee College of Music. There he teaches film music composition, orchestration, and technology.
JEFF WOLPERT
Sound Engineer – Spatial Sound Dolby ATMOS
FSC 351: POST-PRODUCTION: MIXING AND MASTERING – PRINCIPLES OF SPATIAL SOUND – REC 501: RECORDING SESSIONS
A multi-award winning engineer, mixer, producer, editor, and educator Wolpert has worked with some of the biggest names in today’s music industry in addition to a successful career working in film and television. A graduate of Concordia University in Montreal (BFA Studio Music), Wolpert went on to earn his Masters of Music Degree in Sound Recording (Tonmeister) from McGill University in 1982. Upon graduation, he started as a system tech and mixer at PA Plus in Toronto and then joined Inception Sound where during his 11 years there, he helped build it from one eight-track studio into two 48-track studios. He then became the chief engineer at McClear Digital Recording and Post Production Studios, a five-studio multi-format recording and mixing facility. Currently he is the owner and chief engineer of Desert Fish Studios, located in downtown Toronto and opened in 2012. He has 3 JUNO Awards for Engineer of the Year. Known for his mastery of acoustic recording and intricate mixing, Wolpert is also recognized for his vast technical and computer knowledge.
GIUSEPPE VASAPOLLI
Composer – Sound Designer
FSC 321 SOUND MANIPULATION AND SYNTHESIS – LECTURES AND INDIVIDUAL LESSONS – LAB 311: VISUAL ANALYSIS SYSTEMS AND AI CORE TECHNOLOGY FOR SOUND PRODUCTION
Giuseppe Vasapolli has composed music for dozens of television series including “Criminal Minds Beyond Borders”, “Ancient Aliens”, “Bizarre Foods”, “America’s Book of Secrets”, “The Pitch”, “Disney’s Kickin’It”, “The Curse of Oak Island”, “The Curse of Civil War” and “The Freakshow”.
He is also active as a composer for films, both in Italy and in the Unites States. In 2023 he composed the soundtrack for the motion picture “So Tutto Di Te” by Roberto Lipari and in 2022 he composed the soundtrack for the film “Un Mondo Sotto Social,” both produced by Tramp LTD and distributed by Medusa Film.
SARAH BELLE REID
Visiting Artist
FSC 321 SOUND MANIPULATION AND SYNTHESIS
Sarah Belle Reid is a performer-composer who plays trumpet, modular synthesizer, and an ever-growing collection of handcrafted electronic instruments. Her unique musical voice explores the intersections between contemporary classical music, experimental and interactive electronics, visual arts, noise music, and improvisation. Often praised for her ability to transport audience members through vivid sonic adventures, Reid’s sonic palette has been described as ranging from “graceful” and “danceable” all the way to “silk-falling-through-space,” and “pit-full-of-centipedes” (San Francisco Classical Voice).
Reid holds a Doctorate of Musical Arts from California Institute of the Arts, with a research focus on the development of new electronic instruments and musical notation systems as interfaces for exploring temporal perception and co-creation. Her debut album for trumpet and interactive electronics, “Underneath and Sonder,” was released on pfMENTUM in October, 2019. In March 2021, she released an electroacoustic EP titled “MASS”, featuring trumpet, voice, electronics, and amplified objects.
In addition to her performance and compositional work, Reid runs an online music education company dedicated to teaching sound synthesis and electroacoustic composition to professional and hobbyist musicians. She has mentored thousands of musicians from around the world in her online programs, and is a frequent guest lecturer at notable institutions in the US and Canada including Stanford University, University of Victoria, California Institute of the Arts, New York University (NYU), among others.
BUCK SANDERS
Composer – Sound Designer
FSC 400.1 COMPOSITION MASTERCLASS
Oscar-nominated composer Buck Sanders has carved out a niche as one of Hollywood’s top musical experimenters, and as Marco Beltrami’s right-hand man on nearly twenty years’ worth of prestige films and genre classics. From horror standouts (Resident Evil, The Woman in Black) to modern westerns (3:10 To Yuma, The Homesman), from sci-fi (I, Robot) to mysteries (Knowing), zombies (Warm Bodies, World War Z), and family dramas (Soul Surfer) to heart-clenching war films (The Hurt Locker), he and Beltrami have forged a musical partnership that has won accolades and the loyalty of such filmmakers as Tommy Lee Jones, Wes Craven, James Mangold, Joon-ho Bong, and Roland Joffé. In 2010, Sanders and Beltrami received an Oscar nomination for their spare, searing music for The Hurt Locker, which took their integration of sound effects and narrative atmosphere to a new level. Sanders grew up in South Carolina, and was drawn to experimental music (and film scores) from an early age. He played guitar in a high school band and continued after moving to Los Angeles, where he studied guitar performance at UCLA. He was working at a laserdisc store in West LA when he met Beltrami, and rapidly went from “helper” to invaluable co-conspirator. Sanders’ unique role in the team is bringing a technological wizardry and an insatiable curiosity for manipulating and inventing sounds (as he did on The Homesman -building an enormous, outdoor wind harp and recording piano sounds underwater). “I’m not surprised I gravitated to film music,” Sanders says, “because it allows for so much experimentation, but gives the strict, dynamic parameters of a film’s personality. For me, giving films unique, handcrafted sounds is just as important to the melodic and harmonic decisions we make during the compositional process.”
ALESSIO MIRAGLIA
Composer – Producer
FSC 301 MUSIC TECHNOLOGY, MOCKUPS
FSC 330 ELECTRONIC MUSIC PRODUCTION, SYNC AND LICENSING
Alessio Miraglia is a music composer, producer, and sound engineer, who has won several awards. His music has been featured in TV shows, commercials, and documentaries (Netflix, HBO, National Geographic).
He has music & sound department credits for several films, such as Beauty and the Beast (2017), Batman v. Superman-Dawn of Justice (2016), Toy Story 4 (2019). His music TV show “AM Garden Show”, which Alessio conceived, hosted, and produced, received the 2020 Independent Producer award from the Alliance for Community Media.
Twice he won the International Award assigned in New York: “Academy of Contemporary Music Award” in 2018 & 2021. All of his albums have been on the iTunes charts, recently reaching #1 in 2021 in the Classical Music category with “The Wind Shifted to the North”. Filmography
TIM STARNES
Sound Engineer
FSC 351 MUSIC POST PRODUCTION, MIXING, MASTERING, EDITING AND SOUND DESIGN – 12 hours
Tim Starnes has been a recording and mix engineer since 1993. He has mixed music for video games for Netease and Riot Games, and scores for film and TV including The Kissing Booth series and the NBC Macy’s 4th of July Celebrations and Thanksgiving Day Parades. He also produces recordings for the 21st Century Orchestra of Lucerne, Switzerland.
From 2014 – 2020 Tim was the General Manager and Audio Director of Cinesamples, creators of virtual music instruments that have been used across the globe and have been featured in countless blockbuster film, television, trailer, and video game scores.
From 2002 to 2014, Starnes music edited for many feature films, winning the 2011 MPSE Award for Music Editing on Hugo (Paramount, 2011). He also music edited for Martin Scorcese’s The Departed (Warner, 2006) and The Aviator (Miramax, 2004), and on Peter Jackson’s King Kong (Universal, 2005) and The Lord Of The Rings: The Two Towers and The Lord Of The Rings: The Return Of The King (New Line, 2002,3) feature films and DVDs.
Starnes orchestrated and arranged Baroque period music for Lasse Hallstrom’s Casanova (Touchstone, 2005). For composer Stephen Endelman, he orchestrated and arranged And Starring Pancho Villa As Himself (HBO Films, 2003), Blue Butterfly (Galafilm, 2003), and De-Lovely (MGM, 2004).
From 2007 – 2013, he taught Film Music Editing, a graduate class at New York University, where he co-hosted the annual Buddy Baker/ASCAP Film Scoring Workshop. In 2003, he received a master’s degree in Music Technology with Tonmeister certification from NYU.
Starnes worked for 12 years as a director of video post-production for CBS and ABC affiliates and post-production houses, winning 3 national Telly awards. His band, Moment of Silence produced a CD at Paisley Park Studios under producer David Z and won the $100,000 dollar final competition of Star Search in 1991.
MARCO STRECCIONI
REC 501 RECORDING SESSIONS – 17 hours
Marco Streccioni was born in Rome, Lazio, Italy. He is known for The Punisher (2004), The Postman (1994) and Instructions Not Included (2013).
He began his career in recording studios in 1975, dealing with recording projects, in 1980 he began his experience in the largest recording studio in Italy, the Forum Studio in Rome, where he began his approach to film music. In 1986 he became technical manager of the recording studios at Cam, one of the largest Italian publishing houses. Here, among many soundtracks, he also recorded and mixed the music of the film “Il Postino” by Luis Bacalov, winner of an Oscar for best soundtrack. In 1995 he founded Sud Ovest Records, a company that deals with organizing and making film music and more, this led to the opening of the Stone Recording Studio in 2009.
He has worked as a sound engineer with the greatest film music composers: Ennio Morricone, Pino Donaggio, Carlo Siliotto, Luis Bacalov, Nicola Piovani, Andrea Guerra, Manuel De Sica, Leonard Rosenmann and Alexander Desplat and many others.
So far he has recorded and mixed more than 600 soundtracks as well as numerous record and theatrical projects.