Today we’d like to introduce you to Finneas Moore.
Hi Finneas, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I was born and raised in Connecticut. At the age of 5, my dad, on the phone, gave me the choice between violin and ballet. Violin and music has been a part of my life since. I was very privileged to be in a public school system that had a robust music and theatre department, which strengthened my love and passion for music throughout middle and high school. I also did a lot of arranging of my favorite music (mostly from video games) on the music notation and forum site Noteflight. It was also there that I first started to write my own music, with the small community of other beginner composers there. About halfway through my junior year of high school, I made the decision that music would be my career, and started looking at schools. I decided on Berklee after sitting through an accepted students presentation that convinced me it was the best choice for a modern freelancer (most of the other music programs were only classical, and in my opinion lacked many of the skills a musician wanting to do something besides teaching/maybe being in an orchestra). I was lucky enough to be awarded a scholarship that would allow me to not incur any debt, and this cinched my decision. I pursued a degree in film scoring while playing and performing many diverse violin gigs of the type only Berklee can offer on the side. I had a lot of fun at school and had many great experiences, not the least of which was composing the 2023 Berklee commencement processional piece and performing electric violin in front of Usher for his own song. In my senior year, executives from Disney Television Animation visited Berklee and gave us the chance to compose a mock pitch for one of their new shows. I was very fortunate to win this “pitch” with my original suite of themes composed for the new show. Because of this I was able to visit the DTVA studios, and they put me in contact with a couple of their composers. This is how I met my current boss, Vidjay Beerepoot, composer of Disney shows like Superkitties, Minnie’s Bow Toons and Kindergarten the Musical. Based on that original “pitch,” Vidjay hired me to do virtual midi orchestration for a film, Panda Bear in Africa, and now for Superkitties and Minnie’s Bow Toons. I now work on those shows, as well as doing short films mostly from Savannah College of Art and Design and Ringling College of Art and Design, as well as music for some children’s books, and performing violin with orchestras such as the Redlands Symphony and LAFCI Studio orchestra. I also teach some violin. I am enjoying LA with my girlfriend Sarah, a nurse at Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles and am looking forward to the future.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
I think it has been as smooth as I could have hoped. But the thing is, I never knew it would turn out well. It’s scary, especially in this day and age, to pursue arts as a career, watching my high school friends do sensible and secure careers while I went on a path with no guarantees. I have had problems with anxiety and self esteem my whole life, and these flared up a lot after I made the choice to go into music. It was especially bad as my college graduation approached and I didn’t have a job to support me yet. I did get one, but I had no guarantee it would happen. Obviously worrying just means you suffer twice, and while that’s logical, anxiety is not always a thing you can logic yourself out of. To do a career like this you have to have a strong faith that things will work out, and it’s hard to keep that faith sometimes. Even if I didn’t get the job I was lucky to get, the world wouldn’t have ended. I would have had to get a day job, and that would be totally fine. But it’s easier to see that things all work out from the other side. I acknowledge people go through much worse things than anxiety, and I am incredibly privileged to have all these opportunities, but that is what I have struggled with.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
For my work on TV, we use a lot of midi elements for the score, and my job there is basically to 1, make sure all the midi instruments sound clean, realistic, and polished, as well as adding instruments and lines to make everything sound full and complete. I also do revisions for the score occasionally, changing specific things based on the notes we get back. I have done scores for short animated films, and the experience I’ve gotten has really helped me with writing music for animation. I believe this ability to “Mickey Mouse” (follow the action of the picture closely with the music) and my experience with string programming and arranging really sets me apart. As a violinist I learned many different styles at Berklee in including pop, jazz manouche, R&B, jazz bebop, bluegrass, folk, Balkan, classical and many more, which helps me in modern gig environment where violinists commonly have to know many styles other than classical (although I do love performing classical and it’s challenge keeps the chops up).
Can you share something surprising about yourself?
My two favorite types of music are actually bluegrass fusion and JPop. That might come as a surprise to people who see the sort of music I usually do for work! I also want to develop (not just compose) a video game someday.
Contact Info:
- Website: Reel – https://play.reelcrafter.com/5Q3vzuD3RWmoRWDGSa2Whg
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/finneas_moore/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100010194727418
Image Credits
Eric Lothrop
Elizabeth Friar
