Interview – Jennifer Thomas, award-winning composer.

Jennifer Thomas, LDS musician and composer, is on FIRE! She recently won Park City Film Festival’s Gold Medal of Excellence for Original Music in a Short Film  for her work in Minuet. There were over 200 films selected for review this year, and it was Jennifer’s first film score.

Before the excitement of winning had even slightly worn off, she received a Hollywood Music in Media Awards nomination for her classical crossover arrangement of J. S. Bach’s Toccata and Fugue in D minor. There is a version of it here, and it is also being re-mastered for Jennifer’s new album. The HMM Awards honor film scores, commercial music composers, video game composers, and independent musicians in every musical genre. It is the only awards platform of its kind, and it will be the real deal: red carpet, media coverage, and after-parties. Jennifer humbly says that even if she doesn’t win, it will be a great experience to meet others in her field.

With all of the projects she has going on, she still found the time to let me interview her. I was thrilled.

Jennifer Thomas reveals Minuet score

Linescratcher Jennifer Thomas has been working all Summer on a film score for an independent short film called Minuet.  Fans and readers will be happy to see that Jennifer has released the unmastered tracks from the film on her blog.  Awesome chance to hear them before you see the film.

As far as the film goes, it has been filmed and is intended to be entered into film festivals soon.  Jennifer has given a synopsis of the film on her website:

Carolyn Southworth

Lovers of classical and new age music will love the soothing songs of Carolyn Southworth. Carolyn inherited a rich tradition of music in her family and has passed that love on to her daughter, former Linescratchers interviewee Jennifer Thomas, with whom she has released an album of lullabies. Carolyn has a thing or two to say about how she grew up with music, where her inspiration comes from, her musical family, the writing process, and how her faith influences what she does.

Jennifer Thomas

SOUNDTRACK/CLASSICAL

If you like classical music that kicks, you’re in for a treat. Violinist, pianist, classical composer, performer, and mother, Jennifer Thomas brings quite a bit to the table, and yet she manages to seamlessly transition from modern to traditional, from dramatic to gentle, from tempest to forest and in between. Listeners will at once connect with her melodies and themes. Her compositions are complex enough to resonate with fellow musicians, but Jennifer is also quite adept at emotional connection with the lay listener. Jennifer has quite a bit to say about her musical process, and has taken the time to answer some questions for us. She talks about promoting her music, how composition requires hard work, and how she feels God helps her as she composes her music.

Chance Thomas music on YouTube

Chance Thomas has just received permission from Ubisoft to post some of his music from Avatar on YouTube.  You can follow these links to listen:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v1pZMfUaaIY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sR_E_uQX0sk

Chance Thomas

Not too long ago, Chance Thomas was just a performer in a cover band on a cruise ship. Now he’s an Academy Award-winning composer. If you’ve played Avatar (the video game), Lord of the Rings Online, Quest for Glory V, King Kong, or X-Men, or if you’ve seen the animated short film The ChubbChubbs, you’re probably very familiar with his music. Chance Thomas is a highly skilled and highly popular composer for video games, film, commercials, and television. His projects have won major awards, such as Oscars and Emmys, and was one of the very first people advocating full orchestral soundtracks to video games. Chance has had a long and powerful history in the entertainment industry, and he’s taken a little time out of his busy schedule to give Linescratchers an interview.