Film Scoring with Colton D.

I am a Composer and Pianist based in New York City. My background as a classical and jazz trained pianist, music director, and music administrator contribute to my understanding of the collaborative nature of music-making. I work with a wide variety of media, like film, video games, and dance. I believe it is very important for every composer or pianist to be able to tune into their collaborators’ creative impulses, intimately understand their vision, and craft music that heightens the impact of the work. Composition students can expect to learn the tools you need to be a composer in the 21st century. Through our lessons we will find your style and voice and write music that will help you achieve your goals. Not only will you learn how to compose, you will also be learning a lot about music theory, orchestration, music history, and music technology. If you want to write music for an orchestra, a band, become a songwriter, a producer, a film scorer, or even make music for video games, this is the place for you! Piano students of all ages and experience levels can expect to learn how to play the piano in whatever style they want, while learning about all forms of music and becoming a better musician. You will learn how to have the confidence to play something in front of your friends and will learn the language to talk about and appreciate all forms of music. If you’re considering being a pianist as a career, we will dive into the tools and marketing of becoming a career pianist. I have been teaching private piano and composition lessons for 5+ years and now teach at NYU as a professor in the Screen Scoring department. As a working artist I have written music for multiple films, games, dances, advertisements and have performed as a pianist in multiple albums and even more soundtracks. I also have worked alongside many famous composers as their assistant and have a lot of insight on the music industry. I received a Bachelor of Music with a concentration in piano performance from Virginia Commonwealth University, a Masters Certificate in Orchestration for Film and TV from Berklee College of Music, and have also received a Masters of Music in Screen Scoring at New York University. I look forward to meeting you and helping you achieve your musical goals and becoming friends along the way!