To celebrate the 10th anniversary of Music Meets Film, a new initiative – Music Meets Film Award was launched to support and promote talented young composers. In 2022 the second Music Meets Film Scoring Competition was announced in collaboration with Orchestral Tools.
Participation is open to anyone around the world who is 30 years old or younger.
MMF Award 2023 will be open and waiting for the competition entries from November 2023.
Participants are invited to compose an original soundtrack to a video clip, to demonstrate their composition skills and musical creativity.
The finished work should be uploaded either to a participant's Soundcloud or Youtube account.
The winner will be selected by a jury of music and film professionals from this years’ Music Meets Film panelists, and announced on Music Meets Film 2023 final event.
For the second time Music Meets Film presented a special award for young and talented composers in collaboration with Berlin-based virtual instruments company Orchestral Tools. The MMF Scoring Competition received 20 works in total, 12 by Estonian - and 8 by international competitors.
The first prize went to the Estonian musician and composer Taaniel Pogga. His winning entry shows a keen understanding of the craft. Tension builds slowly but unrelentingly throughout the clip, leading to a dramatic resolution. The jury liked the subtlety of this entry, and the reserved approach added to the spookiness of the scene. It’s also worth noting that the sounds used here were compelling in themselves, adding a modern edge that added a new dynamic to the mediaeval setting.
Pogga won a package of collections from Orchestral Tools: Tallinn, the Berlin Series, The Creative Soundpacks, and Orchestral Tools’ next collection that’s coming out very soon. Additionally, Pogga won the grand prize of 2000 EUR.
The Honorary Prize went to Latvian-born Liene Skrebinska. Her entry was notable for its excellent use of traditional instruments: Instant scene-setting. The composer added subtle sound design, and made good use of silence. But what stood out most of all was the composer’s unusual interpretation of the action, re-positioning the fight as a dance. This added a completely new and unexpected nuance. All in all a creative and highly original effort!
Skrebinska won an extensive selection of instruments from Orchestral Tools, including their acclaimed Tallinn collection, the Berlin Series main collections, the entire Creative Soundpacks collection, and a brand new collection coming out very soon.
Participants were invited to compose an original soundtrack to a video clip, to demonstrate their composition skills and musical creativity. The clip was kindly provided by the creators of "Melchior the Apothecary” (2022), directed by Elmo Nüganen.
The winner was selected by a jury of music and film professionals from this year’s Music Meets Film panellists, which included the film Director Elmo Nüganen and composer Liina Sumera, as well as Alice Atkinson, Aram Shahbazians, Argo Vals, Orchestral Tools and MMF curator Michael Pärt. The winners were announced on 22 November 2022 at the MMF Award Ceremony at Noho Restaurant & Bar at Nordic Hotel Forum, Tallinn.
Winner of MMF Award 2022: Taaniel Pogga
For the first time in 2021, Music Meets Film launched a special award for young and talented composers. The competition received 29 works in total, from which 20 were presented by Estonian and 9 by international competitors.
The first prize went to Estonian-born Jonas Tarm, who has focused in recent years primarily on work as a composer for the concert stage and film. Various ensembles have commissioned him to write original music, including the Tallinn Chamber Orchestra, New York Virtuoso Singers, Boston Musica Viva, the Estonian XXVII Song Festival, New York Youth Symphony, and the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra.
The jury noted that Jonas Tarm’s score successfully navigated the film clip’s ambiguity of genre, reflecting and enhancing the dramatic tension, dark comedy, and action sequences with rhythmic vigor and timbral variety while maintaining its own strong musical identity. Simultaneously rich and transparent, the score also provided a flexible musical counterpart to the pre-existing audiotrack, allowing space for dialogue and sound editing. The overall effect was a well-paced, sonically-integrated, and ultimately humorous audiovisual experience.
Two Honorary Prizes went to Paweł Lewicki (PL) and Taaniel Pogga (EST), who applied very different musical strategies to the film clip, both of which the jury felt were worthy of recognition. Pawel Lewicki’s well-crafted, Morricone-inspired score highlighted the clip’s Western undercurrent and heightened the comedic effect with its unexpected approach. Taaniel Pogga’s score takes a darker perspective, its gritty electronics driving the action sequences and imbuing the clip with dramatic intensity.
The initiative was promoted by Orchestral Tools and awarded its first prize of 2000 EUR as well as a package of Orchestral Tools’ virtual instruments including their acclaimed Tallinn collection. Participants were invited to compose an original soundtrack to a video clip, to demonstrate their composition skills and musical creativity. The clip was provided in partnership with BFM – Tallinn University Baltic Film, Media and Arts School. The winner was selected by a jury of music and film professionals from this year’s Music Meets Film panelists, and announced on 23 November 2021 at Black Nights Discovery Campus Award Ceremony.