MOTU Artist Spotlight Webinars

Trevor Rabin

Trevor Rabin is a South African musician, composer, and producer. He is best known for his work as a singer, songwriter, producer and guitarist with the progressive rock band Yes, and for his successful career as an film composer. He joined Yes in 1982, and his contributions drove commercial success for several albums, including "90125", "Big Generator”, "Union" and "Talk". 90125 sold three million copies in the US alone, driven by its lead single "Owner of a Lonely Heart", one of Rabin's songs, which reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart. As an elite Hollywood film composer, Trevor's scoring credits for dozens of blockbuster films include "Armageddon", "Con Air", "Remember the Titans”, and the “National Treasure” franchise. Trevor's many collaborations include the biggest artists in the film and music business, including a lengthy partnership with Jerry Bruckheimer. Trevor has also recorded many solo albums, including his upcoming "Rio" project, which he briefly discusses during this webinar.

Terence Blanchard

Artist Homepage | IMDB

Terence Blanchard is a renowned American jazz trumpeter, composer, and bandleader. Born in New Orleans, Blanchard began playing the trumpet at a young age and went on to study at Rutgers University. He joined Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers in 1982, where he developed his skills as a jazz musician and gained recognition for his unique style. Blanchard has since become an accomplished bandleader, with over 30 albums to his name and multiple Grammy awards. He has also gained acclaim for his work as a film composer, having scored numerous movies including "Malcolm X," "Inside Man," and "Blackkklansman." He’s currently scoring season two of the HBO series “Perry Mason”. In 2021, his grammy award-winning opera “Fire Shut Up in My Bone” debuted at the Metropolitan Opera in NYC. In addition to his music career, Blanchard is also a dedicated educator, having served as the Artistic Director of the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz at the University of California, Los Angeles.

John Debney

Artist Homepage | IMDB

John Debney is a highly accomplished American composer known for his work in film, television, and video games. Raised in Glendale, California, the son of Disney Studios producer Louis Debney, John grew up on the Disney Studio lot and studied composition at the California Institute of the Arts before beginning his career as a composer for television shows like "The Young Riders" and "SeaQuest DSV". Debney has since gone on to score over 200 feature films, including "The Passion of the Christ", "Elf", and "Iron Man 2", for which he received an Academy Award nomination. He has also composed music for popular video games such as "Lair" and "The Sims Medieval". He has conducted his music with orchestras around the world, including the London Philharmonia, the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, and the Moscow Symphony Orchestra, among others. With a diverse body of work and a reputation for excellence, Debney is widely considered to be one of the most talented composers working in Hollywood today.

James Sizemore

Artist Homepage | IMDB

James Sizemore is a music editor and composer with notable credits in film and television. Recent projects include The Slumber Party, The Pale Blue Eye, Confess Fletch, and Crimes of the Future. Previously, James produced the score for the Oscar winning independent film Spotlight and spent three years working with director Peter Jackson and composer Howard Shore, orchestrating the music for The Hobbit Trilogy. With a versatile background in many musical styles, he has ranged from the big Broadway musical numbers written for OJ:The Musical to the ambient soundscapes heard in David Cronenberg’s films Maps to the Stars and Cosmopolis. His versatility can also be heard in Jon Stewart’s film Rosewater, where ethnic Persian soloists intermingle with hip-hop and rock influences. James is an Artist in Residence at Bard Music Conservatory, teaching a course on film music. He has also served on the faculty of New York University and the City University of New York. He lives in the Hudson Valley, NY with his wife and daughters.