Film and television conductor and orchestrator Matt Dunkley shares his wisdom with University of West London (UWL) music students
Intro
Celebrated and prolific conductor, composer and arranger Matt Dunkley, who has worked on film and television hits including Andor, Enola Holmes 2, No Time to Die, and Top Gun: Maverick, visited UWL on Wednesday 24 May. Matt is an alumnus of UWL’s London College of Music (LCM) having studied trumpet and piano here between 1983 and 1987.
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In the afternoon, Matt took part in a Film Music Composition Workshop, discussing works by students. He gave constructive feedback and answered questions about the journey from studying to working in the music industry.
In the evening, Matt took part in an Arts in Conversation public event which began with a showreel of snapshot highlights of his creative work on iconic films. He was then joined on stage by composition lecturers Dr Litha Efthymiou and Dr Bartosz Szafranski, and students Morris Bachmann and Katrine Aziz who asked him about advice for early-stage composers, working with others, and the challenges of starting out.
It’s tough to make money in the early days so you have to spread your net wide. For a few years I was doing trumpet gigs, doing music copying through the night and starting to get conducting work. I had to decide which road to take, and it was not easy. You need to be honest with yourself and decide what’s the best path for you to have a satisfying career,”
said Matt.
The audience, many of whom were LCM students, then asked Matt questions on topics including arranging other composers’ music, working with lyricists and directors, overcoming writers’ block and self-doubt, and how to network. On the latter, Matt had this to say:
It starts small, then one connection leads to another. Even now all the work I get is from contacts and friendships rather than an agent. Be open. You are in a wonderful, creative stew here so reach out to people on different courses. The relationships you form now are precious and priceless. Take any job, you never know what could come from it. The path is never straight in a musical career.”
Matt was so insightful, humble and down to earth. He answered all the questions so well. I hope we’ll get more of these opportunities in the future,”
said first year Composition student Morris Bachmann.
Professor Nicholas McKay, Director of LCM, gave his thoughts on the event:
At LCM we seek to provide our students with a platform from which they can progress into the very apex of exciting, world-leading professional careers. Matt epitomises this trajectory having reached and sustained a career at the very pinnacle of the global film and media music industry.”
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