I am thrilled to share that Lakeshore Records has released my score for Frank vs. God! I have always appreciated this special label: they have released and supported scores from numerous composers whom I deeply admire and have worked with (Mark Isham, Junkie XL, and Adam Taylor among others). I’m so pleased that the music for Stewart Schill’s wonderful film has found a home with them! You can it here:
http://smarturl.it/FrankVGodSCOREFriday, June 2, 2017
Wednesday, October 5, 2016
October Artist Residency and Open Studio at I-Park in Connecticut
For the remainder of October, I'll be working on my electroacoustic opera Cesare as an artist-in-residence at the I-Park Foundation in East Haddam, CT. I will be presenting some of my new work on Sunday 10/30.
I am so thrilled to have been selected as a Fellow at I-Park this year. In short, they work to provide a nurturing and protected studio laboratory environment for creative artists to pursue their projects with minimal distractions. The grounds include numerous artist studios, hundreds of acres of forest - with previous art installations sprinkled throughout - and trails one can walk for miles of solitude and inspiration.
I am so thrilled to have been selected as a Fellow at I-Park this year. In short, they work to provide a nurturing and protected studio laboratory environment for creative artists to pursue their projects with minimal distractions. The grounds include numerous artist studios, hundreds of acres of forest - with previous art installations sprinkled throughout - and trails one can walk for miles of solitude and inspiration.
Every day this month, after a brief morning walk, I make my way down to my writing studio, which is furnished with the things I need to compose: a piano, a cello, and my mobile sequencing/recording rig. Inspired by Michael Cramer's libretto, strange and tricky music lurks for the grasping, and having the time to truly immerse myself in its forces to bring it into being - in this environment - is invaluable.
On the last Sunday of the residency, I will present my progress publicly as part of I-Park's Open Studios. My fellow residents (four visual artists and one writer) are presenting their work as well. If you are nearby and would like to visit, we would LOVE to see you! You can find more info and RSVP here.
This project is a passion of mine that I return to whenever I can; having this month to devote to it truly feels like a gift. I can't wait to share more on this project soon.
On the last Sunday of the residency, I will present my progress publicly as part of I-Park's Open Studios. My fellow residents (four visual artists and one writer) are presenting their work as well. If you are nearby and would like to visit, we would LOVE to see you! You can find more info and RSVP here.This project is a passion of mine that I return to whenever I can; having this month to devote to it truly feels like a gift. I can't wait to share more on this project soon.
Friday, September 30, 2016
"What Still Remains" Original Score
I’m thrilled to announce that I am composing the score for Josh Mendoza's new thriller-drama What Still Remains! It stars Colin O’Donoghue, of Once Upon a Time fame. After guest-composing on a couple episodes of OUAT last season, it has been really fun for me to revisit his fine acting in a totally different kind of role. What Still Remains also stars Lulu Antariksa, and Mimi Rogers - whom I absolutely love. Working with Josh and producer Gregg Meller again has been awesome. I couldn’t be happier joining their team to help bring Josh’s vision to life.
Friday, January 1, 2016
2015 Year In Review
Composition Highlights:
Once Upon A Time
Star Wars: Battlefront
Star Wars Old Republic: Knights of the Fallen Empire
Manny In Real Life
Frieda's Turn
The Passion of Anne Frank
Orchestration Highlights:
Deadpool
Marvel Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
Penny Dreadful
Run All Night
Da Vinci's Demons
Revenge
Constantine
What a full and inspiring year it's been. 2015 began with two performances of The Passion of Anne Frank in January - which I co-composed as part of the Los Angeles Master Chorale Oratorio Project. We had the full support of the Anne Frank Foundation, a spectacular cast of child soloists, and the LAMC Chamber Singers delivering their finest. This piece was one of the most inspiring concert music project I've ever been involved with.
WINTER:
At the same time in January, I had the first of four collaborations with Junkie XL this year, orchestrating his score for Run All Night. Later in the year, I would work with him on Black Mass and Point Break, finally culminating with orchestrating Deadpool in December, along with my colleagues Henri Wilkinson and Edward Trybek.
In February I attended the Sedona Film Festival with the film Frank vs. God, for which I composed the score. Sedona treated us like kings, and I greatly enjoyed participating on a panel about director-composer relationships, and how music works in film. Considering my passion for film music education, this was a particularly meaningful panel to be invited to be a part of.
SPRING/SUMMER:
Over the course of the next couple months I settled into my weekly orchestration work on two television shows: Marvel Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (ABC) and Penny Dreadful (Showtime). I composed original music for the beautiful short film Frieda's Turn, and a 10-episode YouTube series featuring my score - Manny In Real Life - released a new episode every week. The summer brought a welcome residency at Stanford University, where I worked on my electroacoustic opera at their world-class Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics; making more composing progress on that piece in a couple of weeks than the entire rest of the year thus far!
FALL:
In the fall, I returned to two scoring projects that were extremely meaningful personally. First, I had the immense pleasure of being invited by Mark Isham to guest-compose on two episodes of Once Upon A Time (ABC). As someone who has admired Mark's music since I was young, this was particularly special.
Second...we come to Star Wars. As a Star Wars geek my entire life, it would be an absolute thrill to compose even a small sliver of music for this universe. That opportunity came twice this year, first when composer Gordy Haab invited me to compose additional music for the score to the hugely popular Star Wars: Battlefront video game. The score to Battlefront was recorded by the London Symphony Orchestra, and the project also led to my being hired as a composer for Star Wars Old Republic: Knights of the Fallen Empire. I am very grateful to Gordy for opening this door for me (and recently devoted a full blog post to these two projects).
Finally, I have stayed active with two local causes that are important to me. Education Through Music - Los Angeles brings music lessons to every child in the inner-city schools it partners with. The Contemporary Performers Collective is a growing new-music ensemble in Los Angeles, that focuses on spotlighting the concert-music voices of Los Angeles-based composers (and they were kind enough to commission a piece from me this past year as well). I highly endorse both of these organizations for involvement and support.
And that about sums it up. Happy New Year everyone! Can't wait to see what 2016 brings.
Once Upon A Time
Star Wars: Battlefront
Star Wars Old Republic: Knights of the Fallen Empire
Manny In Real Life
Frieda's Turn
The Passion of Anne Frank
Orchestration Highlights:
Deadpool
Marvel Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
Penny Dreadful
Run All Night
Da Vinci's Demons
Revenge
Constantine
What a full and inspiring year it's been. 2015 began with two performances of The Passion of Anne Frank in January - which I co-composed as part of the Los Angeles Master Chorale Oratorio Project. We had the full support of the Anne Frank Foundation, a spectacular cast of child soloists, and the LAMC Chamber Singers delivering their finest. This piece was one of the most inspiring concert music project I've ever been involved with.
WINTER:
At the same time in January, I had the first of four collaborations with Junkie XL this year, orchestrating his score for Run All Night. Later in the year, I would work with him on Black Mass and Point Break, finally culminating with orchestrating Deadpool in December, along with my colleagues Henri Wilkinson and Edward Trybek.
In February I attended the Sedona Film Festival with the film Frank vs. God, for which I composed the score. Sedona treated us like kings, and I greatly enjoyed participating on a panel about director-composer relationships, and how music works in film. Considering my passion for film music education, this was a particularly meaningful panel to be invited to be a part of.SPRING/SUMMER:
Over the course of the next couple months I settled into my weekly orchestration work on two television shows: Marvel Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (ABC) and Penny Dreadful (Showtime). I composed original music for the beautiful short film Frieda's Turn, and a 10-episode YouTube series featuring my score - Manny In Real Life - released a new episode every week. The summer brought a welcome residency at Stanford University, where I worked on my electroacoustic opera at their world-class Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics; making more composing progress on that piece in a couple of weeks than the entire rest of the year thus far!FALL:
In the fall, I returned to two scoring projects that were extremely meaningful personally. First, I had the immense pleasure of being invited by Mark Isham to guest-compose on two episodes of Once Upon A Time (ABC). As someone who has admired Mark's music since I was young, this was particularly special. 
Second...we come to Star Wars. As a Star Wars geek my entire life, it would be an absolute thrill to compose even a small sliver of music for this universe. That opportunity came twice this year, first when composer Gordy Haab invited me to compose additional music for the score to the hugely popular Star Wars: Battlefront video game. The score to Battlefront was recorded by the London Symphony Orchestra, and the project also led to my being hired as a composer for Star Wars Old Republic: Knights of the Fallen Empire. I am very grateful to Gordy for opening this door for me (and recently devoted a full blog post to these two projects). 
Finally, I have stayed active with two local causes that are important to me. Education Through Music - Los Angeles brings music lessons to every child in the inner-city schools it partners with. The Contemporary Performers Collective is a growing new-music ensemble in Los Angeles, that focuses on spotlighting the concert-music voices of Los Angeles-based composers (and they were kind enough to commission a piece from me this past year as well). I highly endorse both of these organizations for involvement and support.And that about sums it up. Happy New Year everyone! Can't wait to see what 2016 brings.
Tuesday, December 8, 2015
Composing Star Wars music!
Having scored all of the recent large-scale Star Wars video games, Gordy Haab is a master of the musical Star Wars universe. So after Star Wars Battlefront was announced, it was a thrill when he invited me to collaborate with him on a portion of the score: composing music for the new planet Jakku.What makes Jakku particularly interesting in this case, is that it's a new planet not yet seen in any of the films or shows - it will be part of the forthcoming Star Wars Episode VII film. As such, it turns out that Gordy's and my work is the first music ever heard for this new planet, even before the great maestro John Williams himself. The London Symphony Orchestra absolutely hit the recording out of the park, as they have on all of the films (and numerous games) so far. As a lifelong Star Wars geek, that all feels pretty cool.
A happy epilogue to my SWBF experience: it also led to me being hired as one of the composers for Star Wars Old Republic: Knights of the Fallen Empire. This is a PC-only game, with a highly dedicated fan base and active player community. It's been an absolute pleasure to hear from some of them how much they're enjoying the game, and the music. Something as iconic as Star Wars is always to be handled with care and respect, and I'm honored to have played even the smallest role in people's enjoyment of this universe. Wednesday, June 10, 2015
Marvel Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and Penny Dreadful wrap their scoring seasons
Marvel Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and Penny Dreadful have both wrapped scoring for their second seasons. I was privileged to perform orchestration duties on every episode of both shows this season; each show scored with a live orchestra every episode. S.H.I.E.L.D. has finished airing all its episodes for the year, but it has been renewed for Season 3 by ABC! Penny Dreadful is in the middle of its run on Showtime, (we score further in advance for this one,) so there are still a number of Season 2 episodes to air.Saturday, April 4, 2015
Jonathan discusses composing the score for Manny In Real Life
Here's a brief video discussing my scoring process for Manny In Real Life - a 10-part series created by Salvador Paniagua (now viewable online at mannyinreallife.com). You also get a rare chance to hear me messing around on my first and still favorite instrument - the cello - in my project studio at home, where the video was taken. I played all the cello solos on the first season, which was such a blast to both compose and play for!
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