Wind rushes through your hair as you soar high over snowy peaks on a dragon’s back; swords flash in the sun as you fight for your life on a cliff’s edge; rain falls as invading armies bear down upon you in the depths of despair. Movies use images to take us on breathtaking adventures to faraway lands, but images alone are not enough. It’s the thundering tempos, soaring highs and somber melodies of the accompanying score that help us truly feel and live them.
All his life, composer Jared Richardson, 20, has appreciated music’s power to speak to us. He wrote his first orchestral piece at just 15. By 17, he became the Victoria Symphony Splash’s only young composer – his work Winds of Kananaskis performed for an audience of 50,000 people. Now, three years later, he’s studying on scholarship at the prestigious Berklee College of Music in Boston and hopes to follow the footsteps of Star Wars’ John Williams and Lord of the Rings’ Howard Shore.
But to do that, he needs help for Mission: Possible from the online community.
The mission, should they choose to accept it, is to help Jared raise $45,000 dollars in just 60 days on Kickstarter.com to crowdfund his hour-long debut album, featuring his most powerful cinematic scores. With the money, Jared hopes to hire the Victoria Symphony Orchestra to record his new pieces so he can share them with the world.
You may not have heard Jared’s music yet, but one day, when you recall a hauntingly beautiful, exhilarating melody from one of your favorite new films, remember this dreamer who was destined to become another of Canada’s great success stories.
Check out Jared’s campaign.
Listen to Jared’s music.
(Article written by Kait Richardson.)