We were lucky to catch up with Collette Jones recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Collette, thanks for joining us today. Did you always know you wanted to pursue a creative or artistic career? When did you first know?

When I was growing up my two biggest loves were stories and music. You could find me constantly reading books, acting out stories with my siblings, or re-watching Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron for the hundredth time. I would hum the themes from my favorite movies as I walked home from school, or try and pick them out on the piano or violin. I didn’t know how, but even at that early age I knew I somehow wanted to be involved in the world of bringing stories to life.

When my next-oldest brother and I were little, my dad used to get out his violin and play for us, and I begged my parents to let me take violin lessons. I started lessons at the age of four, and later began piano lessons as well. While growing up, I played with all of the school orchestras, participated in all-state orchestra, and toured with the Young Artist Chamber Players and the BYU Philharmonic Orchestra. As we performed, I saw how much our music meant to people, especially during the Christmas season, and this was a powerful lesson to me about the impact that music can have.

During my freshman year of high school, my school took a trip to Disneyland and participated in a backstage workshop where we recorded some excerpts of the soundtracks to the Disney films. With my headphones on, music on the stand in front of me, and bow on string, I felt such a magical excitement well up in me as we brought the images from the films to life. Thanks to that experience, I knew that I wanted more than anything to be a part of creating that magic for others. From then on, I became obsessed with film music and began my journey to becoming a film composer.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I grew up in Tooele, Utah, and am the oldest of five children. I’ve been playing violin as long as I can remember, and music has always been an important part of my life. I participated in many orchestras and performing opportunities in my early years, which eventually led me to falling in love with the world of film music.

I worked really hard to audition for Brigham Young University’s Commercial Music program and was elated to be accepted. During that time, I worked as an assistant in one of the campus studios, and assisted with teaching the orchestration class for several years. I also performed with the BYU Philharmonic Orchestra, as well as their Chamber Orchestra, and had many wonderful experiences touring and playing classic works such as Debussy’s La Mer and Mahler’s Symphony No. 9.

I was able to compose the music for many student films, podcasts, and a music library album during my time at BYU, and the climax of my studies there was being selected to write and record the music for the BYU animation film my senior year. The short, titled “Stowaway,” features two pirates who find an unwanted visitor aboard their ship, and I had so much fun collaborating with the filmmakers. Stowaway won the student Emmy award for Best Animation Short in 2021.

After graduating from BYU, I was hired to work with the sample library company Cinesamples to assist customers with support issues. I’ve had the opportunity to write several demo tracks for some of their newer libraries, as well as the new plugin, Musio, and I’ve also been grateful to learn about the world of recording and sampling from the team.

In 2022, I was beyond excited to be accepted to University of Southern California’s Screen Scoring program, which I graduated from in 2023 with my master’s degree. This brought me from Utah to Los Angeles, and the year was a whirlwind of amazing experiences learning about the music industry, making connections, and recording talented musicians. I also had the opportunity to write music for many student films and other projects, as well as record many others on violin. I was honored to receive the Betty Rose Collaboration award at graduation. My favorite moments were attending the student film screenings to see the culmination of the projects I worked on, collaborating with amazing filmmakers, musicians, and my cohort, and having the opportunity to record with a full orchestra at the Warner Brothers Eastwood Scoring Stage.

Since graduation, I have continued my work with Cinesamples and have been working as a composer’s assistant here in LA in addition to composing music and recording violin for other projects.

Because I am both a composer and violinist, I am able to use my violin playing in a lot of my music. I love to record violin sounds and turn them into interesting effects in my tracks. My musical strength is writing for orchestra, and I especially enjoy combining orchestral sounds with other elements to create hybrid pieces.

As I compose, my goal is to enhance the story that is being told by bridging the gap between the screen and those watching. Whether it’s laughing and dancing, sitting on the edge of your seat, or getting a little teary-eyed, I know film music has a great ability to impact someone’s day or even their life. Because of this, I strive to add feeling and emotion into my music so that it can touch the listener in some way.

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

So many stories and music of all kinds have meant so much to me in my life – I can’t count the times I’ve been overwhelmed by or obsessed with a really well-told story, whether through music, art, film, or writing. I love hearing stories that other people want to tell, and I love helping to tell stories through my music. I want to be able to give back by helping others have moving experiences through storytelling, and it brings me a lot of joy to know if I’ve made even a small difference to someone.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

While my love for film music and composing is great, when I first began my journey as a film composer I knew very little about the process and profession. Because of this, I felt a bit out of place when beginning my undergraduate degree and I was farther behind the other students who already had experience with music technology. I am beyond grateful for two friends who took me under their wing and taught me the basics of using music software one afternoon. For years I would often stay late in the school’s studio to practice and learn as much as I could outside of class time, even on my busiest days. At times I felt like an imposter in the program and was discouraged with my progress, despite how much I was learning. My last year at the school I pitched a music demo to the animation department and was elated to be chosen to do the music for their award-winning animation that year. It was gratifying that my hard work had paid off and granted me the tools and skills necessary to create the music for that film, and this helped me take the next step on my journey to USC.

I continue to learn every day, and this includes learning to find confidence in myself. It takes a lot of courage to put yourself out there and venture into the unknown, and I’ve been very fortunate to have had wonderful family and friends to cheer me on and support me along the way. When things get hard, I always have to remind myself how far I’ve come. Just a few years ago, being able to compose music for film was merely a dream. I could have never imagined all of the things I’ve learned and all of the opportunities I’ve had since then. There will always be more to learn, and while it’s a bit scary to take a step forward into the dark, I am so grateful for all of the times I did, and for the people around me who encouraged me to do so.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://play.reelcrafter.com/Czsk3t3aTgOjQz13LN5K4Q
• Other: https://uscscoring.com/students/2023/collette-jones

Image Credits
Christian Amonson Lolita Ritmanis MarikoKay Photography