Well, here we are. It is January 2009 and I am on a new path.

About three months ago I decided to devote myself to pursuing a full-time career in film and game composing and put classical music aside for a while.

A lot of reasons went into that decision, and I will only talk about the positive ones. (Because, yes, there were negative things about life as a classical music composer, but I won’t go there!)

The first reason is simple: I love movies and I love film music. Home is where the heart is, well, my home is in film.

Second: There is a very large and healthy interest in film scores, which makes it a truly living art. People are waiting for a composer’s latest score, and there is always room for new music. As a composer who wants lots of people to care about what I do, this is not a trivial reason.

Third: You get a chance to write for the orchestra, get paid for it and don’t have to wait years to hear your music!

Fourth: You get paid! People hire you and actually want to pay you and they thank you for it! Music is truly appreciated in this field because they know how important it is.

Fifth: I get to write simple music and not have to reinvent the wheel every time I write! It is actually a great relief and a lot of fun to write using the chops you have. And you want to know the truth? I miss tonal music. Still, once in a while, you do get write crazy atonal music, and that is great fun when that happens. Where else do you get to write a lullaby in C major than for movies or games?

Sixth: I get to be a musical actor and a musical storyteller. It is very stimulating to write music in that frame of mind.

Seventh: (And this should be number one) I have always loved film music ever since I heard “Star Wars”. it is without a doubt why I love the orchestra so much and one of the many reasons why I am a composer today.

So now, three months after I made that decision, I am working on a feature film musical called “Invaders from Mars”, having a great time and I have made more money from it than I have with all of my classical music put together.

Next I will be working on a Ubisoft video game trailer and there are some other things cropping up on the horizon after those.

2009 is shaping up to be a great year!