Renowned Film Composer and Christ’s Acolyte
What Chris’s story is all about is a change of mindset and redirection of focus in life towards the almighty and loved ones instead of solely focusing on becoming the most successful film composer. During his journey as a composer, he learned that the spiritual aspect of believing in God was of primary importance rather than having a successful career. He lives with the question of whether his actions will have a long-lasting difference and influence years after he is no more.
The privilege of sharing his music and making a difference in the world is what’s worth living for. “Scoring a picture is not only rewarding because the images generate ideas but the director’s overall vision allows me to support the emotional aspects of a film by finding the right mood needed and becoming a storyteller through music.” It is an exciting experience for Chris as he knows his contribution will have an everlasting, enriching and influencing impact even when he isn’t there anymore.
The road to becoming a successful film composer embodies being an orchestrator, musician, leader, composer, conductor, contractor, human psychologist and a versatile and dynamic personality. The hard work is essential along with the complexity of his job as the technical aspect is a pre-requisite. Being at the right time and place is crucial according to Chris in order to succeed. Chris loves filmmaking and its process from reading a script to travelling to various filming locations.
A rat race can be perceived as an endless pursuit without achieving any success and so he claims that being a ‘Tiger’ requires strong leadership character traits as well as confidence that is essential to become successful.
Chris Piorkowski lives with the goal to glorify God through his own contribution as a film composer. He hopes and prays to have a long-lasting impact as a servant of God without whose help he may not have been able to achieve what he possesses today. Chris feels honoured and grateful enough to be able to share his knowledge and experiences from Hollywood directly with his students with the hope that they successfully become a ‘Champion for Christ’.
Chris Piorkowski is an award-winning composer, artist, and educator. Completing his graduate studies with a major in Music Composition for Film and Multimedia, Chris holds the Master of Fine Arts (M.F.A.) terminal degree from Vermont College of Fine Arts.
As a performer, pianist, and composer, Chris participated in the music performance for Pope John Paul II, performing a solo piano concert at “Palais des Congrès de Paris” in Paris, France with over three thousand visitors present. He has also accompanied several notable opera and musical singers including Melissa Swift-Sawyer, Anne Demougin, and Lisa Fairmont. In 1999 Chris was selected, because of his outstanding achievement in composition and arrangement, to score, produce and arrange the Theme Song of The Boxing World Cup in Helsinki. In addition to his many composition projects, he was chosen as an orchestrator, composer, arranger and audio engineer for German Pop star and recording artist Guildo Horn (Eurovision Song Contest 89’).
At age twelve, he received a Diploma in Harmony from Music Conservatory. He studied Symphonic Orchestra Conducting with Joe Herter and later Orchestration with Steven Scott Smalley. Chris Piorkowski received a Diploma in Sound Engineering and Music Production from the Audio Institute of America in San Francisco. He also received a Diploma in Media Composition from Music for The Media in London. He studied Jazz Piano with Walter Norris and Jazz Harmony with Sigi Bush at Music University Berlin (HDK). In 1996 he received a Scholarship from Berklee College of Music in Boston, where he later studied Film Scoring and Orchestration. He continued his education at the University of Newcastle Australia – Music Technology Master Program.
Chris Piorkowski worked on countless projects at the legendary Sound City Studios in Los Angeles, CA (now recording studio hall of fame). He scored over 50 Feature and Short Films as well as many TV commercials.
“If I could, I would like to walk with Jesus by His side and learn from Him how to be a leader and how to lead others. Also to understand humanity in its complexity and human emotion through interactions with one another as well as to develop excellent relationships, and follow His example.” Lastly, he imparts his knowledge that success and career is not the most important aspect of people’s lives and that it is vital to understand and give back to the community whilst becoming the best version of oneself.
