Hello! Could you introduce yourself to our readers?
My name is María Eugenia León, and I am a composer for concert and film music. I am originally from the Canary Islands in Spain, but I’m living in Los Angeles, California. I was part of the Amp CFA program this year.
What was the CFA program like for you?
It’s amazing, you could even say life changing — having that community of all composers and filmmakers and the curators of the program, and the faculty. It’s such an honor to be part of this program created by Emmy-nominated composer Miriam Cutler and having amazing curators, Rob Calder and Tony Scudellari. They were all amazing people. Everybody was very supportive of each other. I felt so safe, well-treated and welcome.
How did it work?
Twelve composers were selected, and four filmmakers were selected, and each filmmaker worked with three composers. We met on Zoom several weeks and we talked about the work of all the different composers. So, we were able to get really into details week after week and really see the progress of every single person.
The highlight, of course, was spending that week in Vancouver, which was absolutely amazing, and being able to work with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra. It was an incredible experience. There were twenty musicians from the orchestra, and then we also had mixing sessions with Damon Tedesco, an amazing recording engineer from Los Angeles who has worked on many successful projects, including Family Guy, Looney Tunes, Obi-Wan Kenobi…
We also had the opportunity to have a rehearsal before the concert, which I think was key, because during the concert the orchestra performed live to picture. The rehearsal was so important to be able to get all the balances right – balancing the film’s sound effects, the prerecorded tracks and dialogue with the orchestra. In my case, I had prerecorded my vocals and extra instruments to create the sound environment that I wanted with the orchestra. Particularly, in my piece, my vocals were essential to portray specific emotions of the characters; and the harp in the orchestra was a key instrument throughout the score which glued everything together.
The concert went extremely well. Somebody from the audience asked, “How come some scenes were different?” which was very interesting, because the clips were the same, but the work of each composer was different to the point that it would highlight different things in the scene. I thought that was cool, because it shows how important it is for the filmmakers to have those good, deep conversations with their composers when they work on a project. Every single composer did something different and unique that worked for their scene. And for some people in the audience, it looked like a different clip. In my case, I was proud to get some laughter from the audience in key moments, because my scene was part of a dark comedy.
What were the key learnings from the program for you?
One key element that we worked on throughout the whole process was how important communication is among filmmakers and composers. It’s a very important part of the equation.
Another part that I took away from the experience was this feeling that anything is possible, because the week was so incredible. We got to work with amazing musicians from the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra and amazing people all around, and we recorded our music at The Warehouse Studio, owned by Bryan Adams, what a dream! Also, the great working collaboration with Michelle Sudduth and Alex Clark showed me how important it is to surround yourself with the right people. When that’s the case, great things can happen.
Why do you think it’s important to continue to fund programs like the CFA?
These types of opportunities are so important. Of our group of twelve composers, we had six male composer and six female composers, and we had people from all over the world, different nationalities, different colors of skin. All of the composers were absolutely amazing, fantastic creators. We know that in the working world, sometimes you don’t get access to the greatest opportunities, maybe because you’re not the right gender or the right tone of skin or the right nationality.
So having a program like this one where it’s giving an opportunity to all kinds of people, and finding a lot of talent and technique… I think it’s fundamental to open people’s minds and show that it doesn’t have to be one specific type of person to do this job. There’s a lot of people that are very talented, very capable and hardworking. Thanks to programs like this, those barriers can be broken, little by little, and we are getting more opportunities for all kinds of people of all genders and races. This type of program is key to continuing the progress of opening doors for all of us and keeping the artistic level elevated.
What are you working on now, and what’s next for you?
Recently I had a world premiere of my new choral and orchestral work called Puentes, which premiered in the Canary Islands last December, in a concert dedicated to film music; we had approximately 200 musicians on stage between the choir and the orchestra. And about a month ago, my orchestral piece Busca la Alegría was performed in New York by a Youth Orchestra. Those are two of my recent projects, and there are others that are still in progress so I can’t reveal much about them yet.
On the other hand, it was fantastic to work with the film director that I was assigned in the CFA Program, Karen Lam. She was very open, respectful, communicative, and she already had a composer that she usually works with who is fantastic, and they have a long-term working relationship. The good news is she really liked what I did with my vocals and wants to incorporate them into the film score.
That’s amazing!
Yeah, it was a very nice surprise. I’m very thankful for that fantastic twist at the end of the whole program.
Last (important!) question: Where can people find you?
People can reach me at all social media, my handle is @mariaeleonmusic, and you can find me on Instagram or Facebook or X and also my website: https://www.mariaeugenialeon.com/
That’s so wonderful. We wish you the best with everything. We’re so excited for all the projects you have coming up!