USCUSC

Screen Scoring

Steven Jones

emailweb site

Steven Jones began learning piano at the age of four, studying with Dr. Mark Sullivan, Leonne Lewis, and Dr. Wojcieich Kocyan. In addition to playing saxophone and clarinet throughout middle and high school, he was also the pianist in the Los Alamitos Jazz Band. Steven went on to establish and direct multiple jazz combos through the years.

A graduate of Loyola Marymount University, Steven earned a BA in music with a business minor in 2014. His music degree is a dual emphasis in both piano performance and theory/composition. He was active both on and off stage with every production by the Sinatra Opera Workshop during his time at LMU, including the west coast premier of John Cage's Europera 5. This involvement developed in him a stronger appreciation for the operatic approach of combining musical and theatrical elements.

While at LMU, Steven collaborated often with screenwriter and director Kelsey Taylor, his chamber ensemble partner. Steven scored her award winning student film "The Collatz Conjecture" (2013). A year later, he arranged the score to be performed live with the film as a piano duet at the LMU Spring Children's Concert. Steven continues to work with the same production team on various other projects including two mini-musicals.

Steven respects the film scores of Alexandre Desplat, Joe Hisaishi, Michael Giacchino, and Ennio Morricone. From the classical realm, he admires Beethoven, Bolcom, Chopin, Gershwin, as well as French and Russian composers from the Romantic and Contemporary Periods of music history. Despite having a strong foundation in classical music, Steven is always striving to expand the scope of his composition style.

Since 2008, Steven volunteers his summers at Pageant of the Masters in Laguna Beach, a show which recreates works of art in large set with live people. Every performance is accompanied with live narration and an orchestra to enhance the stories behind the art and their relation to the theme of the year. Some of his other interests include windsurfing, tai-chi, and spending time with his polydactyl cat Yoda Padfoot Jones.