7.7
Welcome to the site!
Joel is currently finishing up his year in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, where he worked as a worship leader at Chambers Hill United Methodist church, and also as an IT call-center agent. It is a time of tying up loose ends and preparing for the great move ahead, down to sunny Miami...
Once at the University of Miami, Joel will begin work on a Master's degree in Media Writing and Production, which explores both sides of film and tv scoring: composition and production. Joel will study extensively with Raul Murciano, Jr. In addition, Joel has been blessed with the opportunity to serve as worship leader for the University's United Methodst ministry, the UM Wesley Foundation. This will dovetail nicely with his recent work at Chambers Hill UMC, and he is excited to also have the chance to live in a close-knit community, right on the UM campus.
In terms of recent projects, Joel has just finished collaborating with his friend Jeffrey A. Haines on Jeff's senior project for his studies in digital media at Drexel University. The project, entitled "The Legend of Perseus", explored the synergy between digital animation and live action. This was a particularly interesting project to score for Joel, as he was able to use comedic devices and also apply some orchestration techniques garnered from Scott Smalley's orchestration workshop, which he attended in New York this past May. In addition, this was one of the first projects that Joel used Logic 8 for, utilizing many of its samples and sync-to-picture features. Also, Joel recently finished work on a 45-minute short film by student filmmaker Jonathan Stutzman, entitled "Sea Salt" - a poignant tale of a grief-stricken young man who finds redemption in a stuffed gorilla and a quirky female companion. This also allowed Joel to explore Logic and further his sequencing skills.
Other recent projects include a few instrumental arrangements for wedding ceremonies of college friends, as well as performances in these weddings as a vocalist, pianist, and drummer.