{"id":29501,"date":"2024-08-06T09:39:00","date_gmt":"2024-08-06T09:39:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/muse.international\/?p=29501"},"modified":"2024-08-09T12:54:03","modified_gmt":"2024-08-09T12:54:03","slug":"interview-with-stephen-melillo-from-the-united-states","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/muse.international\/index\/interview-with-stephen-melillo-from-the-united-states\/","title":{"rendered":"Interview with Stephen Melillo from the United States"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Stephen Melillo, a three-time Pulitzer Prize nominee, won “Best Cinematic Soundtrack” at the New Age Radio Music Awards and the LIT Songwriting-Audio-Music-Book Narration & Score Award. His career boasts numerous international awards and over 1,360 compositions, including four symphonies and 45 hours of music for Ensembles of the 3rd Millennium\u2122.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Q1. Please provide us with a brief bio of yourself and your background.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2024, I, Stephen Melillo, received a third Pulitzer Prize in Music nomination for “Holodomor,” won “Best Cinematic Soundtrack” at the New Age Radio Music Awards, and earned the LIT Songwriting-Audio-Music-Book Narration & Score Award for “Excerpts from the Ahab & Death to Moby Dick Love Stories.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My career is distinguished by numerous international music awards and a vast portfolio of over 1,360 compositions, including four symphonies, several concerti, and more than 45 hours of music for Ensembles of the 3rd Millennium\u2122. My Symphony IIII: Lightfall was nominated for prestigious music awards, showcasing my dedication to the craft.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2009, I won an award for my 2005 Visualized Concert, Kakehashi: That We Might Live, which was also nominated for the Pulitzer Prize in Music. In 2019, I received accolades for my work on the feature film One Little Finger, produced by Rupam Sarmah, and for my contributions to Reckoning of Darkness, produced by Christopher Kulikowski. My 15 feature film scores include the Academy Award-nominated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Through STORMWORKS, my self-publishing entity, I have achieved widespread recognition with thousands of worldwide renderings purely through word-of-mouth. I have 53 albums and nine books available on various streaming services, along with novels such as Only for Now, Nogard & Dragon, Ahab, a Love Story, and its sequel, Death to Moby Dick, a Love Story. Additionally, I serve as an Honorary Board Member of the Kampot Cultural Development Institute of Cambodia (KCDI).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Q2. Congratulations! As the winner of the LIT Music Awards, what does receiving recognition at this level mean to you and your career trajectory?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Recognition is always a form of “vindication”. It means that your work is not only noticed but appreciated on a worldwide level by peers and experts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Q3. What do you believe distinguishes your music or your work as a musician?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

My work is pervasive, everything from early games to symphonies. It serves one purpose: to inspire all who listen and play it to realize that we are all Brothers and Sisters in the same Storm, and the same return to Light.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Q4. Were there any challenges that you faced when submitting your current winning entry? help you in your result and\/or performance?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bach, Mozart, Mahler, Korngold, Jerry Goldsmith, Duke Ellington… to name only a very small few. They taught me to “hear” the world that I see.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Q5.<\/strong> Who are some of your biggest influences, and how have they shaped your talents?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n


There are way too many! Sharing just one, I discovered Gustav Mahler\u2019s Music at age 16.  I sat in a car by the water’s edge and listened to one 20-minute excerpt from the 10th Symphony 100 times in succession.  Each time, the Music was \u201cnew,\u201d the plunge into the Soul, deeper.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2005, 30 years later and en route to Japan to record the Chapter 5:8 World History-making CD Set, \u201cWritings on the Wall,\u201d I did the calculation and yes, I had listened to Mahler for 33.333 uninterrupted hours.  It was a chilling moment to discover that fact a Lifetime later while on a plane over the Pacific.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Hat\u00ebnotha\u2019, an Epitaph of Love and the American Indian\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read more about this interview<\/a> with Emma Constance from the United States, the Platinum Winner of the 2024 LIT Music Awards.<\/em><\/em><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Stephen Melillo, a three-time Pulitzer Prize nominee, won “Best Cinematic Soundtrack” at the New Age Radio Music Awards and the LIT Songwriting-Audio-Music-Book Narration & Score Award. 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