Finding one’s passion can be a lifelong journey for some, but for Cal State Long Beach professor Craig Richey, a career in music was inevitable.
Richey, a keyboard studies professor at the Bob Cole Conservatory of Music, recently scored the romantic comedy, “Girl On A Bicycle,” which was released on Feb. 14, according craigrichey.com.
The film, directed by Jeremy Leven, features 87 minutes of music that Richey compiled while in Munich. He also contributed three original songs that he recorded in Prague.
“The whole experience was great but it was challenging because I had never written that much music before,” Richey said. “There was a lot of pressure, but at the end of the day, we prevailed.”
Throughout his career, Richey has scored more than 17 films and worked with A-list actors such as Jennifer Aniston, John Malkovich and Jake Gyllenhaal, among others according imdb.com.
“The Gymnast,” one of the film’s he scored, has won more than 26 festival awards including the Audience Award and Grand Jury prize at film festivals Outfest, Newfest, and Frameline, according to the website.
Richey said his inspiration to have a career in music is rooted in his childhood as his mother was a violinist and his father was a pianist and composer.
“It was kind of clear I was going to be a pianist,” he said. “Music was very much a second language in our house.”
Richey, who graduated from the Juilliard School, said composing music for each movie is a unique experience.
“It’s different for every film, he said. “Each film is going to suggest a feeling or tone of what is appropriate for that film.”
His first break in film scoring came in 1998 when Director Rich Mancuso approached him to score the film, “When it’s Over.” Although hesitant at first, he said he decided to give it a shot.
“After Juilliard I stopped and took a deep breath, I didn’t want to follow the pianist path,” Richey said. “I opened up a recording studio and began producing songs, which prepared me for scoring films.”
Richey said composing music for the film, “Girl on a Bicycle” evoked themes of a classic score with European instruments. He said the film’s small budget, however, wasn’t enough to hire an orchestra, which made his job a little more difficult.
He said another difficulty he experienced was the communication barrier between both the composer and director.
“When scoring a film, you collaborate very much with the director,” Richey said. “Often a challenge is coming up with a common language because directors don’t have a background in music.”
In the end, Richey said the final product outweighed the challenges he faced.
“Girl on a Bicycle” is certainly among the film scores I am most proud of,” Richey said. “I was able to combine my classical background and sensibilities more than in any other film.”