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Connections

Going behind the scenes of film music

A smiling man with short dark hair wearing a blue button-down shirt and a grey blazer. He is holding a pair of eyeglasses. The word "Connections" appears on the left side of the photo in vertical letters.
WXXI News

We're joined by Grammy-winning and Oscar-nominated jazz trumpeter and film composer Terence Blanchard.

Blanchard has written dozens of scores for film and television and frequently collaborates with Spike Lee. He'll be in Rochester next week as part of the inaugural Soundtrax Film Music Festival, hosted by the University of Rochester.

According to organizers, Soundtrax is the first film music festival in North America. They say its roots trace back to George Eastman, who founded the Eastman School, in part, to train organists for silent films.

This hour, we preview the festival, go behind the scenes of film music, and discuss the artistic and technical innovations that could change the future of the industry.

Our guests:

Evan Dawson is the host of "Connections with Evan Dawson." He joined WXXI in January 2014 after working at 13WHAM-TV, where he served as morning news anchor. He was hired as a reporter for 13WHAM-TV in 2003 before being promoted to anchor in 2007.
Megan Mack is the executive producer of "Connections with Evan Dawson" and live/televised engagement programming.
Julie Williams is an associate producer for "Connections with Evan Dawson." She started at WXXI in 2019 and has been working on Connections since 2022.