Guest at University of Miami Frost School of Music

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I recently had the privilege to be a guest speaker in the University of Miami Frost School of Music, Music in Media class to discuss with the students about my composing, the entertainment industry, my work on SCOREcast and some philosophies about the business.  It was a great time.  The Frost school of music is one of the top music schools in the country and to be included in their lecture forum series was an honor.  I want to thank Carlos Rafael Rivera for the invitation.  Carlos teaches the course there and is also the composer of the recently released Liam Neeson film, A Walk Among Tombstones, which you should all check out.  

Brian scores the action / thriller film AWAKEN

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I recently completed scoring the film AWAKEN along with co-composer Kays Al-Atrakchi.  Kays and I had previously scored a SyFy channel film together and once again united to work with director Mark Atkins.  

In AWAKEN, a random group of people wake up on an island where they are being hunted down in a sinister plot to harvest their organs.  The film stars Natalie Burn (Expendables 3), Daryl Hannah (Bladerunner, Splash), Edward Furlong (Terminator 2), Robert Davi (Die Hard), Jason London (Dazed and Confused) and Vinnie Jones (Snatch).  Kays and I brought an exciting, action / thriller score with a slight horror touch.  Look for the film starting later in 2014 and into 2015, especially in foreign markets.  

Online seminar class on director-composer relationship

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I have been asked to take part in a wonderful 2-part teleconference /online seminar with Bob Degus - Director & Producer the evenings of Tues June 24th and Tuesday July 1st. Bob was an executive and producer at New Line Cinema for many years overseeing Austin Powers and Pleasantville. He is also an active AMPAS member on the board of his branch. Bob and I have also worked together on many projects he has directed and produced. He is conducting a seminar series as the "Hollywood Film Coach" and this is the first…Orchestrating The Composer - The Director-Producer Relationship. Info on the course is at the link below and a PDF of the topics covered you can download and check out. The target audience for this seminar is composers getting into the industry BUT…he has asked me to participate in a second more "advanced" seminar down the road where the target audience is directors and producers wanting to know more about working with a composer. Bob has MANY great stories from his years in the industry that are so educational to learn from.

There is a $99 cost…but he guarantees you will get out of it many things of value and be happy or he will give your money back. THAT is huge….you have nothing to lose. 

Please pass along if you would be so kind to help me get the word out to any folks you may think may want to take this course. Bob is a wealth of information that any young composer out there normally does not have access to. I am humbled by his invitation to me to join him in this conversation. And I look forward to seeing you at the tleconference/online chatroom on the 24th.  

http://thehollywoodfilmcoach.com/blog/orchestrating-composer-director-relationship/

Los Angeles area school performs Crooked Arrows suite in concert.

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First Avenue Middle school in Arcadia, CA has a monster music program where 500 of the 800 kids in the school are involved in the music program in one way or another.  Since I am a graduate of the Arcadia school system from many years ago, First Avenue Middle School music director Mike Danielson approached me about wanting to perform a suite of music from my Crooked Arrows score at their end of the year movie music concert.  I immediately loved the idea and thought is was an extra special opportunity due to the fact that Lacrosse (the sport depicted in Crooked Arrows) is the fastest growing sport in America and the age group driving that growth is young teenagers.  To have an orchestra of talented young teenagers beyond their years in musical ability perform this music and bring it to life on stage seemed appropriate.  

On the evening of Monday, May 19, 2014 the suite was reformed in front of a live audience of over 1200 people at the beautiful new performing arts center in Arcadia, CA.  It was a joy to be able to conduct this extremely talented musical group.  The concert went extremely well.  I have to keep reminding myself that these were 6th - 8th graders performing music well beyond their years.  If it is any indication of the future of music in Los Angeles, the future is bright.  


Private Dancer SDTK review (NY Examiner)

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Danny Gonzalez of the NY Film Examiner recently reviewed the Private Dancer soundtrack CD on Perseverance Records, giving it positive reviews and a thumbs up.

“A Solid noir suite is a great reason to get this album showcasing the talents of Brian Ralston.”
“Perseverance’s album is very interesting and unique much like the label is and it mostly is a showcase for Brian Ralston’s talents which is a great thing because he’s really becoming a composer to watch out for and if “Negotiating Identities” was a full blooded score for a major film, we’d be talking about a breakout score and one day, we probably will see that. This album will definitely be the inspiration for it without a doubt and for the time being, you can enjoy it on its’ own merits...As a whole, it is a very intriguing album that truly displays the talents of its’ composer who really has a solid career ahead. A positive experience and (mainly) because of “Negotiating Identities.”

Brian's film music played on WWSN radio in UK

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WWSN radio in the UK has a show (you can stream online)…called The Score Zone with Darren Power where they play nothing but music for film, television and video games. On tonight's show (Jan 28th, 2014)…they will be playing some of my film music from various films and projects. Tune in to check it out…or if you re reading this after the fact, you can download and stream the show from their archives as well. It is always great to see shows like this that support the music we create. Thank you Darren for that support of what we do!

The live show is at: 
03:00 GMT
22:00 EST (10pm)
19:00 PST (7pm)

Show's webpage with show links:
http://wwsnradio.com/djprofile.aspx?DJID=3c2f7955-4375-4fbc-b925-d6f3147930e1

Show's Facebook group page:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/TheScoreZone/

On the Facebook group you will find play lists under the files tab.

Crooked Arrows named one of the best scores of 2013, and more

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I am honored to have the NY Examiner list my score for Crooked Arrows as one of the best Soundtrack Discoveries of 2013 and to also be listed as one of his 3 picks for Best Soundtrack Newcomers along with Ryan Amon (Elysium) and Rahman Altin (The Butterfly's Dream). Thank you Danny!  

You can read the full article here:

http://www.examiner.com/article/the-good-the-best-the-most-disappointing-movie-soundtracks-of-2013

Majora's Mask Live Action: The Skull Kid

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I contributed some music as part of a fan film based on the Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask video game.  Directed by Jared Potter, who I had previously worked with on scoring his "Voyager" Short film, Skull Kid: A Zelda Legend went live on the Machinema YouTube channel on December 23rd, 2013 and within 48 had hit over a quarter of million views.  Many Zelda fans from around the world have raved about the fan film…including the scene at the end where the character Link is introduced…where I orchestrated Link's theme from the game for large orchestra and choir to cinematically introduce the lead character of the Zelda universe.  Check out what everyone in the Zelda universe is talking about right now.  

THE SKULL KID, a harmless but troublesome imp, has been cast out of the city of Clocktown. Deep within the lost woods he must face the harsh realities of his banishment. There, amongst the trees, an ancient evil has also begun to stir, seeking out a creature suitable to become its puppet.

Private Dancer Soundtrack CD available now!

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   The Soundtrack for the play Private Dancer is available for purchase as of today from Perseverance Records. It will also be sold at the theatre venue in NY. While much of the score is from the film shown within the play…there is some music that we did separately for the live stage play and it is very different in style. 

   Rita Hayworth was of Spanish decent. Before her stardom as the actress we all know…she tried to make it as a Spanish Dancer, but failed. It was her tumultuous relationships with her husband Edward Judson and subsequent support from Columbia Pitures president Harry Cohen who white washed the Spanish heritage from her to make her the American actress "girl-next-door" we all know. Such were the politics of the industry in the 1950s. 

   To infuse her Spanish heritage into the live acted portion of the show…we did all flamenco inspired music. This music is also portrayed on the sdtk album as well. This cue below is from a scene in the play where Rita is shown rehearsing for her famous Dance Of The Seven Veils scene from the film Solomé. The music is original…not from the film. But we took the opportunity to do some flamenco inspired tracks. Music is performed and arranged by the incredible Chris Burton Jacomé who I had previously worked with on the 9/Tenths score. Enjoy!

From the soundtrack to the cinema inspired stage play Private Dancer. Music composed and conducted by Brian Ralston. Performed by the Hollywood Studio Symphony. Flamenco Guitar Arrangements and performance by Chris Burton Jacomé.

Behind The Scenes of Private Dancer Soundtrack

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Thursday night, December 5th, 2013 is opening night for Private Dancer in NY…a unique cinema inspired performance work as told through the life of Rita Hayworth. Here is a behind the scenes of the creation of some of the music for this production. 

This video shows the Hollywood Studio Symphony recording one of the cues for the film within the play "Negotiating Identities". The cue is also titled Negotiating Identities. (Select or verify HD stream is on for better quality audio). Enjoy!

A behind the scenes look at recording one of the cues for the NY play Private Dancer. A unique cinematic inspired work told through the life of Rita Hayworth. Music composed and conducted by Brian Ralston. Performed by the Hollywood Studio Symphony Orchestra. Recorded at The Bridge Recording Studio, Glendale, CA.

Private Dancer play has a film within the play called Negotiating Identities

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Within the Play Private Dancer…there is a film shown to the audience. There is a scene in the play where Rita passes out and we see her nightmare (and some of the internal struggles she is dealing with) in the form of this film. The film is shot in a Hitchcock-like style as Rita wanders around an empty mansion, going from room to room to see moments in her history play out. I scored the film in a style reflective of those films…with a strong nod to Bernard Herrmann's style. Here is the main title sequence for the film. The Hollywood Studio Symphony performed beautifully. 

The cover art is different from the last because the soundtrack release has two sections of music contained in it, grouped separately. The "play" music and the "film" music. The film is called "Negotiating Identities." 

From the Original Soundtrack of the 2013 Cinematic Stage Play Private Dancer (and the film within the play Negotiating Identities). Lion Theatre at Theatre Row. New York, NY. December 2013. Music composed by Brian Ralston. Performed by The Hollywood Studio Symphony.

Private Dancer to open in NY, December 5, 2013

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In celebration and in anticipation of the NY premiere of Private Dancer…the cinema inspired stage play about Rita Hayworth for which I composed the music…for a limited time, I will be sharing with everyone some of the cues from the production over the next couple weeks. 

This cue is from the Overture to the production.  All of the "Golden Era" films of Hollywood have the credit sequences at the front of the film with music score overtures composed to play with them. For this production…a filmed overture with credits was created to reflect that style and era of Hollywood. And thus…this cue was born. The music was composed in a style reflective of the time and performed by the wonderful Hollywood Studio Symphony. (A group chosen not only for their performance expertise, but symbolically because they would have also been the group performing on all of Rita Hayworth's films from the era). 

A soundtrack release is off at the pressing plant and until then, the tracks will remain up. Once released in December, the tracks will come down for a while. Please feel free to listen and enjoy! I am very proud of these cues and am excited to share them with the world.

From the Original Soundtrack of the 2013 Cinematic Stage Play Private Dancer (and the film within the play Negotiating Identities). Lion Theatre at Theatre Row. New York, NY. December 2013. Music composed by Brian Ralston. Performed by The Hollywood Studio Symphony. Flamenco Arrangements and performance by Chris Burton Jacomé.