Mr. Chattaway has served as the composer for the last four seasons of Star Trek: The Next Generation, all seven seasons of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, and the pilot and all seven seasons of Star Trek: Voyager. In addition, Mr. Chattaway has composed the music for Star Trek: The Experience, a virtual reality attraction in Las Vegas. To date, he has scored 26 feature films, including Missing in Action, Red Scorpion, and Stephen King’s Silver Bullet. He has received eight Emmy nominations, four Grammy nominations and four Gold albums.
Four graduating students of Film Scoring will be able to experience what it would be like to be Mr. Chattaway for a day as they compose and record music for an episode of Star Trek that just aired in October. The recording session will take place on Wednesday, November 15th. Berklee student musicians will perform these composers’ music, as the episode of Star Trek will be projected in the 1200-seat Berklee Performance Center.
The student composers will then receive a critique by Mr. Chattaway. Among the topics that will be discussed are technical tips, as well as the success of the music in matching the emotion of the scenes.
Berklee is the only college in the world where one can receive an undergraduate degree in Film Scoring. The curriculum at Berklee is geared towards preparing students for careers in the industry. The recording studio within the department is run almost as if it were a company, so that students are very much in tune with what industry expectations are. It is equipped with state-of-the-art equipment and software.
While courses in Film Scoring were offered as early as the 1960s, Film Scoring did not become a major at Berklee until 1979. Film Scoring is one of the fastest growing departments at Berklee—the number of Film Scoring majors has grown significantly in the past few years (currently there are about 240 in the major).
A sampling of Berklee alumni actively working in the field of Film Scoring include: Alan Silvestri ‘69 (Composer: Back to the Future I, II, III, IV, Forrest Gump, Who Framed Roger Rabbit?); Howard Shore ’68 (Composer: Silence of the Lambs, Mrs. Doubtfire); Alf Clausen ‘66, (Composer: TV- The Simpsons); Hummie Mann ‘76, (Composer: Robin Hood: Men in Tights); Christopher Brooks ’80 (Music Editor: Mr. Holland’s Opus, Die Hard I,II,III, Batman Forever); Patricia Van Arx ‘87 (Music Editor: Northern Exposure, Thirty Something); Peter Rogers Melnick ‘86 (Composer: L.A. Story, Only You); Eric Reasoner '82 (current faculty, Music Editor: Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, Last Action Hero, Die Hard III, Lethal Weapon III and IV).
The Film Scoring Department also supports its own self-contained scoring stage and audio-video control room, which allows students to conduct ensembles in the performance and recording of their music, as well as the post production synchronization of their music to video. Students study acknowledged masterpieces of Film Scoring and through this exposure develop an aesthetic vision and the ability to recognize and discuss quality work in Film Scoring.
Film Scoring Labs and class assignments offer students the opportunity for individual hands-on study in the areas of film music composition, editing, sequencing and computer applications including digital audio.
Founded in 1945, Berklee College of Music has been advancing careers in contemporary music for more than 50 years. The world’s largest independent college of music, Berklee has a multicultural enrollment of more than 3,400 students, 40 percent of whom are international. The college’s alumni include some of the most respected figures in contemporary music, including many multi-Grammy award winners.
For further information about the Film Scoring Department, please email filmscoring@berklee.edu or call (617) 266-1400 ext. 2440. For further information on Berklee College of Music, visit www.berklee.edu.