Paul Cristo

Film Composer Paul Cristo
Paul Cristo

Paul Cristo made several invaluable contributions to the Discovering Music course. First as production consultant, he gave us some much needed training in filming and editing, and then was kind enough to fix some of our mistakes. Second, he allowed us to use part of his Festa ballet score in the course, which you hear throughout the trailer and under the credits. Third, he composed the musical flourish that opens each unit. As if that weren’t enough, he composed the opening fanfare to our second course Exploring America’s Musical Heritage.

Paul’s film music career began with an academic background from the renowned Berklee College of Music. There he studied the composition of music in a multitude of styles ranging from orchestral, chamber, and jazz. He also immersed himself in numerous opportunities writing music to picture, honing skills and experience necessary to excel in the world of film music.

Paul completed the composition and recording of his first feature film Little Erin Merryweather which launched him into the business of film composition. With his skills as an orchestrator and conductor coupled with his composition abilities, he began working on variety shorts and feature films which would lead him to films such as River’s End starring Superman Returns’ Sam Huntington and The Deep Below starring Veronica Mars’ Jason Dohring and Star Trek veterans Marina Sirtis and Michael Dorn.

Paul has since been composing film music for over a decade, working on a wide range of projects from the latest installment of MGM’s “Species” franchise to the Heineken’s Red Star Award winning “The Appearance of a Man”. He has also developed a relationship with the Tulsa Ballet and looks forward to creating more concert music for them.

Paul currently resides in Los Angeles and continues to compose for feature films as well as orchestrate and conduct for other various projects. Professor Carol interviewed Paul recently and got him to explain what he does.