Scoring and Sync for Classical Composers

Every day you hear original composed music in commercials, games, films, and series. Whether the merging of image and sound is ‘syncing’ or ‘scoring’, it is seen as an increasingly important source of revenue and can be used as a way to reach a broader audience. It has even been described as ‘the biggest promotion you can have’ as a composer. But what does it take to be a composer for film or documentary? How to get your music noticed by the right parties?

In this talk, Berlin-based music supervisor Kathleen Wallfisch (Napoleon, Downton Abbey: A New Era, Persuasion, Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves) will provide composers with an overview of how they might pursue scoring work, with a particular emphasis on classical composers.

Joining Kathleen are composers Mathilde Wantenaar and Tijmen van Tol, who are involved in a first-time scoring adventure with documentary maker Luuk Bouwman. What questions do they encounter while working, and how does it feel to be composing within the framework of a visual media project? Does having a thorough classical training bring advantages to the job? Or some disadvantages too? Kathleen will show differences between approach to scoring of someone with classical training, as opposed to approaching film scoring from a music producing/songwriting/pop background.

Amsterdam-born composer Mathilde Wantenaar (born 1993) is the winner of the Buma Classical Award 2023. She began her studies at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam, where she studied classical composition with Willem Jeths and Wim Henderickx and subsidiary subjects piano, cello, classical singing and advanced rhythmics. Wantenaar’s music has been described as lyrical, enchanting, and eclectic yet authentic. The combination of her skill and openness to a wide range of genres makes Wantenaar a highly versatile composer.

Amsterdam-based composer Tijmen van Tol (1993) took a bachelor’s and master’s degree in composition at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam where he was taught composition by Joël Bons, Willem Jeths, Wim Henderickx, and Richard Ayres. During his composition master’s, Tijmen specialised in Carnatic (South Indian) music with Rafael Reina. He has written for Nieuw Ensemble, Liza Ferschtman, baroque orchestra Il Fondamento and Nederlands Blazers Ensemble, among others.

Moderator: Kathleen Wallfisch
Kathleen Wallfisch is a Music Supervisor and former cellist, graduating from The Royal Academy of Music in London. Based in Berlin and London, her company, Music In Vision, contracts musicians for on-camera work. Recent work includes Napoleon (Apple Studios), Gladiator 2 (Paramount), both directed by Ridley Scott, and a German documentary, Die Zeit Verbrechen for X-Filme/Paramount Plus.