Special guests: Pinar Toprak // Sean Callery // Michael Abels // Simon Franglen // David Buckley
Faculty roster: Alison Plante // Enrica Sciandrone // Robbie Teehan
Lecturers: Penka Kouneva // Davide Pensato // Luigi Di Guida
Program Director: Paolo Fosso
Asst. Program Director: Roberto Mengoli
Production assistant: Eduardo Cioffi
Pinar Toprak
Pinar Toprak is a trailblazing Grammy and Emmy-nominated composer, conductor, and performer, renowned for crafting evocative, thematic scores across film, television, and video games. She made history as the first female composer to score a billion-dollar film (Captain Marvel), a multi-billion-dollar video game (Fortnite), and a theme for the NFL (Thursday Night Football), solidifying her status as one of the most influential voices in modern composition. Toprak began her musical journey at age 5, studying violin at Istanbul University State Conservatory, and by 16 earned a degree in classical guitar. She completed Berklee College of Music’s Film Scoring program in just two years, graduating at 19, and then pursued a master’s degree in composition. Her classical training is complemented by a deep love for jazz and electronic music, which remains a vibrant part of her musical identity.
With a career spanning blockbuster franchises, beloved animations, and groundbreaking video games, Pinar’s versatility shines across genres. She recently scored PAW Patrol: The Mighty Movie, Lonely Planet (Laura Dern, Liam Hemsworth), and the Grammy-nominated Ubisoft video game Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora and its expansion Secrets of the Spires. Her work includes the electrifying NFL theme, magical Disney park soundtracks including the new Epcot theme, Christina Aguilera’s Xperience Live Show in Las Vegas, and conducting Billie Eilish’s No Time to Die at the 2022 Oscars. A recipient of the ASCAP Shirley Walker Award and four-time International Film Music Critics Association Award winner, her body of over 60 scores includes The Lost City, Our Living World, Stargirl, Krypton, McMillions, Slumberland, Shotgun Wedding, The Angel, and Family Switch. Pinar Toprak continues to redefine the role of a composer, leaving an indelible mark on every project she touches.
Sean Callery
Throughout his 28-year career, composer Sean Callery has received 17 Emmy nominations and 4 wins, placing him among the most nominated composers of all time. Born in Hartford, Connecticut, he studied piano performance at the New England Conservatory of Music before moving to Los Angeles, where he quickly established himself as one of the most versatile and sought-after voices in screen music.
Known for his dynamic and evocative scores, he has crafted music for celebrated series such as Homeland, 24, Bull, Walker: Independence, the Sherlock Holmes series Elementary, Marvel’s Jessica Jones, Bones, and Designated Survivor, among others. He also scored the Liam Neeson thriller The Marksman and the video game James Bond 007: Everything or Nothing. His work on 24 earned him three Emmy Awards for Outstanding Music Composition for a Series, while his fourth Emmy came for Outstanding Original Main Title Theme Music for Jessica Jones.
More recently, he composed the score for the first season of Paramount Plus’s series Halo, receiving widespread acclaim from critics and fans for capturing the epic, immersive quality of the iconic video game franchise while adding a fresh, cinematic dimension to the series. He is currently finishing composing on the critically acclaimed series Accused for Fox. A master of tension, narrative pacing, and emotional depth, Sean Callery continues to be one of the defining composers of contemporary television.
Michael Abels
2023 Pulitzer Prize-winning and Emmy- and Grammy-nominated composer Michael Abels is best known for his genre-defying scores for the Jordan Peele films Get Out, Us, and Nope. The score for Us won a World Soundtrack Award, the Jerry Goldsmith Award, a Critics Choice nomination, multiple critics awards, and was named “Score of the Decade” by The Wrap. Both Us and Nope were shortlisted for the Oscar for Best Original Score, while Nope was awarded Best Score for a Studio Film by the Society of Composers & Lyricists.
In 2022, Abels’ music was honored by the Vancouver International Film Festival, the Middleburg Film Festival, and the Museum of the Moving Image. His recent film work includes Chevalier, Landscape with Invisible Hand (his second collaboration with director Cory Finley), Bad Education, Nightbooks, The Burial (Amazon), and the Emmy-nominated docu-series Allen v. Farrow.
Beyond film, Abels’ creative output includes many celebrated concert works. His opera Omar, co-composed with Grammy-winning recording artist Rhiannon Giddens, won the 2023 Pulitzer Prize for Music. The New York Times named Omar one of the 10 Best Classical Performances of 2022, calling it “an ideal of American sound, an inheritor of the Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess but more honest to its subject matter.” His other concert works include the choral song cycle At War with Ourselves for the Kronos Quartet, the Grammy-nominated Isolation Variation for Hilary Hahn, and commissions performed by the New York Philharmonic, the Chicago Symphony, and the Los Angeles Master Chorale.
Michael Abels is co-founder of the Composers Diversity Collective, an advocacy group dedicated to increasing visibility of composers of color in film, gaming, and streaming media.
Simon Franglen
Simon Franglen is a multi-award-winning composer and producer of film, classical, and contemporary music. Following his critically acclaimed score for Avatar: The Way of Water, Franglen scored Avatar: Fire and Ash, released in late 2025
He was awarded the World Soundtrack Awards’ Discovery of the Year, the Hollywood Music in Media Award, and the ASCAP Award for top score. He is also known for being the producer of ‘My Heart Will Go On’ from Titanic, for which he won a Record of the Year Grammy Award. Other credits include multiple film and TV projects with Antoine Fuqua, Terrence Malick and others. He has collaborated with singers and musicians from across the world, from South Pacific Islands, to Mongolia.
Born in the UK, Franglen moved to LA where he became a top-line record producer and session musician with dozens of multi-platinum albums and singles. Franglen’s music credits range from The Weeknd, Celine Dion, Michael Jackson, Quincy Jones, Whitney Houston, Madonna and Toni Braxton to producing UK grime acts. His work as an arranger and film musician include multiple projects with James Horner, Alan Silvestri, Thomas Newman, Howard Shore, and his first mentor, John Barry. He created the gritty electronica for David Fincher’s Se7en and David Cronenberg’s Crash, and produced the vocals for Moulin Rouge.
David Buckley
Emmy-nominated composer David Buckley has written music for some of the most compelling stories in film and television. His work includes Jason Bourne, The Town, and The Nice Guys, as well as The Sandman, The Good Wife, and Your Honor. He is currently scoring Season 5 of The Lincoln Lawyer and the new CBS show, Cupertino. His work also extends to the world of video games, including Batman: Arkham Knight and Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League.
Beyond the screen, David continues to write for the concert hall. In 2025, his chamber opera Oracle – recorded by the BBC Concert Orchestra and premiered in Switzerland – marked a return to the classical roots that first shaped his musical voice. His concert works often explore the meeting point between tradition and modern narrative, between the sacred and the dramatic.
Born in England, David began his musical life as a cathedral chorister before studying at Cambridge University. After moving to Los Angeles, he collaborated with Harry Gregson-Williams on projects including Shrek and Gone Baby Gone. BAFTA later named him a “Brit to Watch.” He is Visiting Professor at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama in London.
Alison Plante
Professor of Screen Scoring at Berklee College of Music, and Program Director for the MM in Film Scoring at Berklee Online, Alison is an award-winning composer whose scoring credits range from documentaries for PBS and the History Channel to national television ads, independent films, multimedia museum exhibits, and live theater.
Her scoring credits include seven educational television series for the Annenberg Channel; History Channel specials Bible Battles and Aftershock: Beyond the Civil War; documentary feature American Meat; national TV spots, trailers, and corporate identity music for Duracell, Kodak, Sodexho, Spalding Sports, W.B. Mason, GMAC, Animal Planet, the National Geographic Channel, and the Pan Mass Challenge, among others.
Other credits include live action and animated shorts, theater (with a speciality in puppetry), and multimedia museum installations for the Smithsonian Institution and the Harvard Museum of Natural History.
Enrica Sciandrone
Enrica Sciandrone is an Italian composer, pianist, and orchestrator working across film, television, and concert music. After studying in Italy and serving as assistant to Oscar-winning composer Luis Bacalov (2005–2009), she completed a master in Screen Composition at the Royal College of Music in London, where she has taught since 2010.
Her credits include Amazon Prime’s Nautilus, ITV’s The Winter King, Sky’s A Discovery of Witches (Season III), and Emmy-nominated animation Little Bird. She has also contributed to major productions such as Wrath of The Titans, Mowgli, and Oasis, collaborating with composers including Javier Navarrete and Jon Ekstrand.
Among her awards: first prize at the 2009 Premio Petrassi (judged by Ennio Morricone), the 2012 Peer Raben Award at Soundtrack Cologne, and top recognition at the 2024 ERO Competition as the first Italian woman finalist. Enrica continues to break new ground, blending acoustic and electronic sounds with expressive, contemporary storytelling.
Robbie Teehan
Canadian composer Robbie Teehan is known for his nuanced scores to award-winning indie dramas and documentaries, including Scarborough, winner of 8 Canadian Screen Awards including Best Picture, the documentary Bottle Conditioned directed by Academy Award nominee Jerry Franck, the documentary Below the Belt produced by Hilary Rodham Clinton, and the documentary The Babushkas of Chernobyl.
Robbie spent 5 years in Los Angeles as assistant to 4-time Emmy Award-winning composer Sean Callery and contributed to over 300 episodes of network TV on hit series Homeland, Jessica Jones, Elementary, Designated Survivor, Bones, Bull, Halo, and others.
Leveraging his unique expertise in mindset coaching and digital marketing, Robbie founded The Pro Composer in 2020, a thriving online community and boutique career coaching firm that has guided media composers around the world to life-changing career breakthroughs.
Penka Kouneva
Grammy-winning composer and top studio orchestrator Penka Kouneva has worked in Hollywood for 25 years scoring television (Dragon Age Absolution, Pandora series), films (Aga, Encounter, Tarika), video games (Legends of Runeterra, Prince of Persia) and theme parks (NASA). On IMDB, she has 170+ credits. Her recent orchestrator credits include Moana 2 and Juror #2.
Penka holds a Duke University Ph.D. in composition and is known as a great mentor who’s helped 100+ young film and game composers cultivate remarkable Hollywood careers and become top studio composers. Her orchestral albums The Woman Astronaut and Rebirth of Id are released by Varese Sarabande / Universal Music to great critical acclaim.
Like a great storyteller, her music takes the listener on an emotional journey, with timeless melodies and contemporary arrangements.
Davide Pensato
After graduating with a degree in Telecommunications Engineering from Politecnico di Milano, Davide began his career at Ubisoft Studios Milan as an Audio Director. Within a few years, he joined the Board of Directors.
In January 2007, Davide founded his own company, dpstudios, which specializes in game audio consulting and services. Combining creative vision with technical expertise, Davide guides the dpstudios team through a comprehensive creative process, from concept development to implementation, utilizing cutting-edge audio tools and an in-depth knowledge of game engine integration.
dpstudios approach to game audio integration is comprehensive and scalable, covering every aspect of the process, from the initial design phase to thorough testing, including content creation and technical implementation. With decades of experience across various game platforms, dpstudios has developed a strong sense of professionalism and a keen problem-solving attitude, enhancing the ability to deliver exceptional audio solutions in the gaming industry. dpstudios is the official partner of FMOD for Italy.
Luigi Di Guida
Luigi di Guida is an Italian music composer with over fifteen years of experience in the media industry. He pursued his education in Music Composition and Music Composition for Media at the Conservatory of Music “S. Pietro a Majella” in Naples. Further enhancing his skills, he studied Composing, Arranging, and Music Programming at the APM (“Scuola di Alto Perfezionamento Musicale”) in Saluzzo. Luigi’s studies in musical theory were always complemented by his passion for music technology and new media.
Luigi’s proficiency in integrating with development teams and his versatility in various musical genres have made him a sought-after composer for games requiring interactive music. This has led to a vibrant career in game composition. For over a decade, he has also shared his passion for music through extensive teaching activities.
Since early 2017, following a collaboration of approximately three years, Luigi officially joined dpstudios, a prominent Italian company specializing in game audio consulting and services, as their Lead Composer.
Paolo Fosso (Program Director)
Composer and Event Manager, dedicated to promoting contemporary music and digital awareness by featuring a range of events throughout the year, such as the highSCORE Festival and the Screen Music Program. Nominated at the International Sound & Film Music Festival (ISFMF), “one of the largest and most important film music festivals in the world.” President of the Conservatory of Pavia from 2010 to 2013. Selected by the European Commission in Brussels as Expert both in the MEDIA and in the Culture programs.
Roberto Mengoli (Asst. Program Director)
Roberto Mengoli, an accomplished professional composer and arranger from Italy, has recently achieved significant milestones in his career, having completed scoring for a variety of films.
His notable works include Call Me Crazy, a compelling feature film available on Amazon Prime, which boasts performances by renowned Broadway stars; South Bodies, an insightful documentary that was showcased at the prestigious New Orleans Film Festival; Ocean Brew, a short film that stands out for being created by a team of Oscar and BAFTA-winning professionals. Furthermore, he contributed to Pam, a short film that garnered attention on the platform Omeleto.
Since the beginning of 2022, Mengoli has embraced the role of lead composer in over 25 film projects, demonstrating his prolific talent and dedication to the art of film scoring. As he looks ahead to the year 2024, Mengoli is already lined up with numerous studio projects.
Eduardo Cioffi (Production Assistant)
After beginning his Music Production Degree at the University of Hertfordshire in London, Eduardo was accepted into the esteemed Berklee College of Music for the Music Composition for Film and TV program, a course he is presently continuing.
Beyond his studies, Eduardo takes pride in his position as Lead Composer on theatrical productions such as Un Posto Sicuro (UCI/Prime Video), Hangar (Minerva Pictures/Prime Video) and Screamfest nominated short film GRUB, to name a few.
He is also an active assistant and orchestrator for various major projects, including Netflix’s #1 hit-show Ni Una Màs, Hollywood Music and Media Awards Winner Women in Blue (Apple TV+), Past Lies (Disney+), FC Barcelona: A New Era (Prime Video), Italian Primetime Movie Mascaria (Rai) and more.