About
Three-time Dallas Winds award winning composer, Christian Kolo seeks to meld contemporary, classical, and film music as one, recognizing the beautiful potential and limitless opportunities that each contain. Kolo is a recent graduate from The University of Southern California Thornton School of Music where he received a Masters Degree in Screen Scoring. Born in West Bloomfield Michigan, a suburb of Metro-Detroit, Kolo began composing music in his sophomore year of High School. A graduate of Michigan State University, Kolo studied music composition with Zhou Tian and Ricardo Lorenz receiving high honors for his academic achievements. Along with composition, Kolo is very interested in musicology and music education. He loves making classical and instrumental music fun for all ages and for those who do not have an extensive musical background. Kolo enjoys composing music for all ensembles and skill levels. He especially likes composing for large ensemble which provides a great pallet of color and texture for which he enjoys writing with. Kolo also works with film music website, Soundtrack.net as a film music critic.
Kolo currently resides in the greater Los Angeles area where he composes, orchestrates, and conducts film and media music along with concert works from his studio, Christian Kolo Music.
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Notable Performances
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Eastwood Scoring Stage, Warner Bros. Studios, Christian Kolo, conductor​
Czech Television Sound Stage, Adam Klemens, conductor
University of North Carolina, performance at CBDNA, Evan Feldman, conductor ​
Detroit Symphony Orchestra Chamber Ensemble ​
Brooklyn Rider ​
Michigan State University Wind Symphony, Kevin Sedatole, conductor ​
Stephen F. Austin Brass, Fred J. Allen, conductor ​
Michigan State University Symphony Orchestra, Matt Forte, conductor ​
Dallas Winds, Jerry Junkin, conductor ​
Scottish Session Orchestra, Glasgow
Dali Quartet
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Awards
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BMI (Broadcast Music, Inc.) Foundation 2019 Pete Carpenter Fellowship​
Nominated for Best Original Score at The Little Wing Film Festival, On The Way Up​
Dallas Winds Brass Fanfare Competition, awarded for Adventure Awaits​
ACCBDA James E. Croft Grant for Young and Emerging Wind Band Composers, awarded for The River Runs Silver​
Michigan State University Large Ensemble Competition​
Dallas Winds Brass Fanfare Competition, awarded for To The Stars​
Dallas Winds Brass Fanfare Competition, awarded for Valiant​
Duluth Superior Orchestra Young Composers Competition, Runner-up
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Education
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Master of Music in Screen Scoring​
University of Southern California Thornton School of Music ​
Professors: Bruce Broughton, Eric Schmidt, Garry Schyman​
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Bachelor of Music in Composition​
Michigan State University College of Music​
Professors: Zhou Tian, Ricardo Lorenz
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Technical Skills
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Cubase Pro
Logic Pro
Dorico
Sibelius
Pro Tools ​
Vienna Ensemble Pro 7​
Microsoft Office​
Apple & Microsoft OS
Spitfire Audio Libraries ​
Cinesamples Libraries
EastWest Libraries ​​
Spectrasonics Virtual Instruments
Kontakt Libraries