First Film Score!

Timid Monster's Dan Baker and I have known each other since the beginning of 2017. He was gearing up to shoot a short film for which he had won a grant, and was looking, interestingly enough, for examples of microtonal music! He's an amazing person who is masterful in his dealings with people, seeks to promote the welfare of others, and is a great movie director. And he's enthusiastic about everything, even the things we reject, because he loves music. The pride he has, a pride in the music and the music makers, is akin to that of directors like Steven Spielberg and Alfred Hitchcock who relied heavily on music and truly understood the need of it. I am proud and honored to have been a part of Clair de lune, which was one of the top 10 films of this year's Memphis Film Prize!

Because I had contributed a number of cues to the score of Clair de lune, I was excited to go to Midtown, Memphis for this event. The 2021 festival took place in person and online August 6-7. The organizers designed a safe and accessible festival where audiences and artists came together to celebrate and discover new work, and each other. The Memphis Film Prize is a gathering of original storytellers and audiences seeking new voices and fresh perspectives. The annual program features short films. The festival also hosted filmmaker Q&A sessions. Since 2016, films launched at the festival have gone on to gain critical acclaim and reach new audiences. The culmination of the Memphis Film Prize is the awards ceremony. Winning an award can be life-changing for a filmmaker. Films are eligible for a variety of awards bestowed by the "Celebrity Judges," made up of film industry professionals. In addition, audiences are invited to vote for their favorites, and I am proud to say that Daniel Aaron Harris (Daniel), differently abled founder of Fallen Walls and star of Clair de lune, won the award for Best Actor.

Among Memphis, Tennessee's claims to fame is being the home of blues music. Also known as the "Birthplace of Rock 'n’ Roll," it only makes sense that it would be chosen as the setting of a soulful, piano-led film called Clair de lune in 2020. On a rosy August night one year later, cast and crew packed the parking lot of IAM - Indie Artists Market & Collaborative in M-Town for the Clair de lune wrap party. Director Dan Baker, Daniel Aaron Harris (Daniel), Kinon Keplinger (Rich), Shannon Walton (Angel), and writer Ben Roberts were in attendance, along with scores of the men and women who worked extremely hard behind the scenes to make the film happen, including yours truly.

Special thanks to sound engineer James Joseph and musicians Walter F Hoehn Jr, Peter Braswell, Dave Kropf, and Stephen Adkisson!

ZANE GILLESPIE

After six years as Minister of Music at Mount Pleasant United Methodist Church (UMC) in Holly Springs, MS, I was recently called to continue to work to address public engagement in music participation as Director of Music Ministries at First UMC in Water Valley, MS. I am a Composer, Theorist, and member of both The College Music Society as well as The Poe Studies Association (PSA). I am also an active pianist and vocalist, specializing primarily in church music. My paper entitled ““Mesmeric Revelation”: Art as Hypnosis” has been published by the international, peer-reviewed journal Humanities. In addition, another paper of mine entitled “A Model of Triadic Post-Tonality for a Neoconservative Postmodern String Quartet by Sky Macklay” has been submitted to the peer-reviewed Music Theory journal Perspectives of New Music. At the end of February 2015, I served as Chair for the session entitled “Aesthetics and Philosophy” at The Fourth International PSA Conference in New York City. On June 21, 2014, my Quartet for Alto Saxophone and Strings, a commission from concert saxophonist Walter Hoehn, was performed as part of Concert V of the Eighth Annual Belvedere Chamber Music Festival held at Grace-St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in Memphis, TN. Characteristically neo-romantic (in the original sense of the word), my music earned me the Nancy Van de Vate Award for Composition three times from the University of Mississippi Department of Music. A native of Pontotoc, MS, I hold degrees from the University of Mississippi (BM; MM), and the University of Memphis (DMA) where I was the 2011 recipient of the Rudi E. Scheidt School of Music's Smit Composition Award. I live in Memphis, TN.