April 23, 2007

Composer Magda Giannikou has been named the 2007 BMI Film Scoring Scholarship recipient at the annual BMI Day at Berklee College of Music. Giannikou, a film scoring major, received the scholarship at a presentation at Berklee by BMI composer Thomas Newman, in whose name this year's scholarship is given; Doreen Ringer-Ross, BMI vice president, film/TV relations; Berklee president Roger Brown; and Berklee Film Scoring Department interim chair Eric Reasoner.

The BMI Film Scoring Scholarship is a yearly tuition scholarship awarded on the basis of compositional maturity and talent, as well as financial need. Each year, the scholarship is given in the name of a noted BMI composer. Newman, this year's honored composer, taught a master class on film scoring as part of the ceremony.

Press: to inquire about photo availability and usage, please email us. From left: Berklee president Roger Brown; BMI vice president, film/TV relations Doreen Ringer-Ross; 2007 BMI Film Scoring Scholarship recipient Magda Giannikou; film composer Thomas Newman; and Berklee Film Scoring Department interim chair Eric Reasoner. Photo by Nick Balkin

Thomas Newman is a celebrated film and television composer whose works include his Grammy Award–winning score for American Beauty, as well as his Emmy- and Grammy-winning music for the HBO series Six Feet Under. He is a multiple Academy Award nominee, having received nominations for his work on Little Women, The Shawshank Redemption, Unstrung Heroes, American Beauty, Road to Perdition, Finding Nemo, Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events, and The Good German. Other notable Newman scores include films The Player, Fried Green Tomatoes, The Green Mile, and Erin Brockovich, and TV series Boston Public and Angels in America. He is part of the Newman family, a film music/scoring dynasty that includes his father Alfred, uncle Lionel, brother David, and cousins Joey and Randy.

Originally from Greece, Magda Giannikou studied classical piano and theory at the National Conservatory of Athens, and was soon writing music for several Greek TV series and plays. During this time, she began working for Legend Recordings as conductor of the children's choir recording sessions, where she composed and arranged songs (one of which reached no. 5 in Billboard's charts in Greece). Since coming to Berklee, Giannikou formed BANDA, a 10-piece group that blends French lyrics with Brazilian rhythms. She also composed the song "Why" for We Are All Connected, an album by Berklee students, faculty, and staff to raise awareness of the plight of women and children affected by the humanitarian crisis in the Darfur region of Sudan. Most recently, Giannikou composed and performed "Five Scenes from an Odyssey," an orchestral piece written for Berklee's annual Writing Division Awards Concert.

"This scholarship continues our mission of supporting young and emerging composers at the college level," stated BMI's Ringer-Ross. "We support Berklee's commitment to excellence in music and film scoring and their determination to further the growth of talented, trained, and educated composers."

Broadcast Music, Inc. (BMI) is an American performing rights organization that represents more than 300,000 songwriters, composers, and publishers in all genres of music. For more than 65 years, BMI has represented the most popular and beloved music from around the world, a vast repertoire that includes more than 6.5 million works. The nonprofit corporation collects license fees from businesses that use music, which it then distributes as royalties to the musical creators and copyright owners it represents.

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Nick Balkin
Office of Public Information
617 747-2247
nbalkin@berklee.edu