​Stefan Swanson
Film and Concert Composer
Biography
Professional
Stefan Swanson is an award-winning composer for film, media, and concert, with over a decade of film scoring experience and over fifty scoring credits. He has also enjoyed tremendous success composing for the concert hall with over sixty compositions ranging from solo instruments to full orchestra, including River Thoughts, his first symphony. His music has been heard all over the world including Lincoln Center, Cannes, Aspen, along with broadcasts on HBO, Cinemax, NBC, and BET.
In 2011, the award-winning dramatic feature film GUN HILL ROAD, starring Esai Morales (NYPD Blue, La Bamba) and Judy Reyes (Scrubs, Hawthorne), along with Swanson's score, enjoyed tremendous success at the Sundance Film Festival and later was released in theaters worldwide (Motion Film Group). Over the years Swanson's scores for the award-winning dramas STONE CARS, PREMATURE and CUTS, have aired on HBO, Cinemax, and BET. Currently you can find ESCAPING FED and HARD LAUGHTER streaming on Amazon.
His recent commissions include ARIA AND ALLEGRO FOR BASS TROMBONE AND PIANO for bass trombonist JJ Cooper, and THE WIND, commissioned and premiered by the Harmonium Choral Society under the direction of Anne Matlack.​
Education
Stefan holds a PhD in music composition at Rutgers University where he studied with Charles Fussell. He earned his Masters degree at New York University's scoring for film and multimedia program where he studied composition with Ira Newborn (FERRIS BUELLER'S DAY OFF, NAKED GUN, ACE VENTURA: PET DETECTIVE).
In the spring of 2007 he received the Scholarship from the Film Music Museum in Los Angeles to attend the NYU/ASCAP Foundation Film Scoring Workshop in Memory of Buddy Baker. While there he received instruction from Mark Snow (THE X-FILES, SMALLVILLE), orchestrator Sonny Kompanek (THE GOOD SHEPHERD, HOLLYWOODLAND), and music editor Tim Starnes (LORD OF THE RINGS trilogy).​
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The following summer, Stefan attended the Aspen Summer Music Festival for a third time, where he received the Susan and Ford Schumann Scholarship. There he studied film scoring with Academy Award nominated composer Bruce Broughton (SILVERADO, TOMBSTONE) and Jeff Rona (HOMOCIDE: LIFE ON THE STREET, WHITE SQUALL).
Other
Stefan is also an experienced conductor (both concert and film), orchestrator, arranger, and producer. He conducted and co-orchestrated Ron Sadoff's score to the critcally acclaimed documentary CHUCK JONES: MEMORIES OF CHILDHOOD (Gladeyes Films) which premiered on Turner Classic Movies. He also conducted the Manhattan Camerata at the Consulate General of Argentina in New York City (March 10, 2010). He worked with the tremendously successful sample library company Embertones and you can hear his work on their website. You can also hear his arrangement of the Ron Sadoff/Ira Newborn theme for NYU Doctor Radio on Sirius Satellite Radio.​