Jason Solowsky - Film Composer

Jason Robert Solowsky is an American music composer for film and television. A classical pianist and guitar player, his compositions can be heard in over 100 films, many of which have been released by Lionsgate, Sony Pictures, Universal Pictures, and Anchor Bay Entertainment among others.

Highlights include full scores for Lionsgate’s Between Worlds (Nicolas Cage, Franka Potente), Sony Pictures Home Entertainment’s Forgiveness (Richard T. Jones), Lionsgate’s Assassin’s Game (Tom Sizemore, Bai Ling, and Vivica A. Fox), The Freemason (Sean Astin), Falsely Accused (Rosanna Arquette and Jon Gries), Unsullied (Directed by former NFL star Simeon Rice), American Bandits: Frank and Jesse James (Peter Fonda), Anchor Bay Entertainment’s Turbulent Skies (Casper Van Dien, Brad Dourif and Nicole Eggert), Terror Inside (Corey Feldman), Lionsgate’s Unemployed (Godfrey), Lionsgate’s What Up? (Kadeem Hardison) and Templar Nation (Erik Estrada). Solowsky also wrote music for the Sony Pictures release American Crude (Rob Schneider, Ron Livingston, Michael Clarke Duncan and John C. McGinley). Additionally he composed music for the film A Question of Faith (Richard T. Jones, C. Thomas Howell) which was released by Universal Pictures Home Entertainment, and Lionsgate’s Dreams (Lou Myers, and Geoffrey Owens).

Solowsky’s flexibility in adapting to various projects and scales has yielded wonderful collaborations with respected directors such as Michael Rissi (Edgar Allan Poe’s Annabel Lee), Wes Sullivan (Nightbeasts starring Zach Galligan), Keith Holland (Cage Free starring Dee Wallace), Ted Lange (For Love of Amy) Andrea Olabarría (Rough Winds), Jason Kartalian (Seahorses, Driller) and Derek Maki (award-winning family film, Instant Dads). Solowsky also contributed to The Life In A Day, the directorial film debut of Joseph Mazzello (Jurassic Park, The Social Network, The River Wild, Simon Birch).

Solowsky was recognized for his contribution to the highly acclaimed, No One Ever Wins: Lebanon in the Summer of Hezbollah written and produced by journalist Krisztian K. Orban, an illustrative study of the consequences brought on by the Israeli-Hezbollah conflict.

Hailing from a rich and diverse cultural background, Solowsky is well-versed in performance art, particularly the instrumental intricacies of guitar, piano and vocal repertoire. As a skilled singer, Solowsky was chosen as a back-up singer for the world famous performer Barbra Streisand during her performance at the 53rd Annual Primetime Emmy Awards Show. Together with his lifelong friend, singer-songwriter Bob Coburn, Solowsky has recorded dozens of guitar instrumental works.

During the composer’s studies at the prestigious University of Southern California (USC) Film Scoring Program in Los Angeles, California, then headed by the renowned Walt Disney Studios composer, Buddy Baker, he was privileged to have worked under prolific legends of the film score world, to include Christopher Young (Spiderman 3, The Grudge, Runaway Jury, The Shipping News), Elmer Bernstein (The Magnificent Seven, Ghostbusters, To Kill A Mockingbird, The Ten Commandments), David Raksin (Laura, Forever Amber, The Bad and The Beautiful), David Bell (Star Trek: Enterprise, Star Trek: Voyager, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine), Joe Harnell (The Incredible Hulk, V), Jack Smalley, David Spear and George Burt.

A native of Boston, Massachusetts, Jason Solowsky began his musical studies on the guitar at the age of 14, later graduating from the Berklee College of Music with a dual degree in film scoring and composition. He is a descendant of legendary conductor and composer, Leonard Bernstein, whom he credits as a major cultural influence over his work.

"Working with filmmakers is a constant learning experience for me, and no two work exactly the same. I enjoy the challenge of communicating in both the language of film and music. The most important thing I do is to get the director’s musical vision on the screen, and I try many different ways to talk about music with them. Often, instead of speaking in musical terms, I find it most valuable to speak about music in terms of color, moods, feelings and emotions."

"My approach to film scoring is based on finding a certain mood or emotion in a scene, and supporting it. When it is done right, the film will take on a whole new life of it’s own. It is a very exciting moment when this happens, and I find it especially rewarding when a filmmaker sees the full potential of their film layered with my music."

Acknowledgements:

From Director Michael Rissi (Edgar Allan Poe’s Annabel Lee):

"Jason is great. Collaborating with him, then hearing what he created in terms of new themes, melodies and musical ideas for ANNABEL LEE was one of the highlights of making the movie for me. In a word, Jason’s score is Marvelous with a capital "M." I believe it would make an outstanding movie soundtrack album all by itself."

And Michael doesn’t stop there. "Besides being a great person with a very professional, yet easy going attitude -- which is certainly refreshing, Jason’s talent is exceptional. He understands the emotional power of a good movie score. Many movie soundtracks today are little more than mood music. But Jason’s heart is right there in everything he does. Just as important, he has a natural musical ability, and a gift for melody which reminds me of people like Hitchcock’s favorite composer, the great Bernard Herrmann and people like Jerry Goldsmith, James Horner and Danny Elfman."

Rissi sums up his opinion thus,"For me, the greatest composer of all time was Mozart. Mozart said, 'Melody is the essence of music. I compare a good melodist to a fine racer, and counterpoints to hack post-horses.' Well, by that standard, Jason is a good bet to run on any track he’s given."

From Director Wes Sullivan (Nightbeasts):

"I can’t say enough about the wonderful Jason Solowsky. I spent about 2 months listening to a lot of demo tracks before coming across Jason’s work. He’s very versatile. He can do everything from the purely orchestral to the more modern."

From Producer Joseph James (The Freemason & Templar Nation):

"I want to thank the music composer for Templar Nation. He has composed music for over 100 feature and short films. He earned a Bachelor’s Degree from Berklee College of Music in Boston, MA in Film Scoring and Composition. He also earned an advanced studies certificate from USC’s Thornton School Of Music in Film Scoring. His music is subtle at times, powerful and emotional at other times, and very suspenseful at others. If there are filmmakers out there that need a composer, I can vouch for him. Thanks Jason"

From Director Brad Lubin (Steel Here aka Young American Gangstas):

"I worked with Jason when he scored the film "Steel Here" for me. He brought great ideas to the table and was terrific to collaborate with. I highly recommend him."

From Dale Hill of Reel Time:

"I was charmed by the (Annabel Lee) opening credits, where shots of old newspaper headlines provide the backstory, accompanied by Jason Solowsky’s moody music (he studied with Elmer Bernstein, among other greats). All this gives the credits the feel of the opening of Branagh’s "Dead Again" which was itself an homage to Hitchcock, thus giving the whole sequence a double layer of resonance."

From Director Jason Kartalian (Seahorses & Driller):

"Jason is remarkably talented, and a filmmaker’s best friend when it comes to helping out a film with an amazing score. I am inspired by his instincts, professionalism and patience. Thank you Jason Solowsky, you have helped me in so many ways."

From Chris Cummings, Nerdly, UK, Review of Fields of November:

"The score by Jason Solowsky is minimalist and subtle which works really well with the style of the film and the way in which it unfolds. Anything more and the dialogue and effective silences would be lost under it. So often I find that a score seems like it has been dumped into a film without any effort put into how it fits in, this doesn’t happen here at all."

From Director Andrea Olabarría (Rough Winds):

"I flew out to LA and he basically made the score in 4 days. I was extremely happy with his work."