My name is Nathaniel A. Drew, and I am an orchestral composer and producer. I am currently working with Hunt Mysteries as their resident composer, and The Utah Opera Society as a guest composer. I have written scores for movies such as Light in the Fire, which won Best Sound/Music, Audience Choice, and 3rd place overall at the LDS Film Festival. In all I have composed for over two dozen independent films. Over the last few months I’ve scored a promotional documentary called Kions for Kenya, did some commercial music for Decade Media that they’re using as theme music for their website and DVDs, and composed music for a 12 CD health program. In 2004 I won an emeritus award from ACTF for my work on Mahonri Stewart’s original play The Legends of Sleepy Hollow. Because I live just across from Trolley Square I have founded an organization to help support the victims of the tragic shooting that took place there. With the help of 10 other well-known local artists our goal is to raise $1M for the victims through the sale of a CD entitled Healing Trolley Square. Please HYPERLINK "http://www.healingtrolleysquare.com/Home.html", visit that site, and be a part of the healing. In all I have composed over 300 original orchestral scores, 3 operas, 2 musicals, and several jazz pieces.
I was born in Provo, Utah, where I was raised in an LDS family of eight children—seven boys and one girl. I was the third child, born seventeen months after my twin older brothers.
As a child, I ‘played piano’ at my grandmother’s house by randomly pressing keys and trying to mimic nature’s sounds. I refined this ability as I taught myself how to play piano (and many other instruments) by ear.
I attended Timpview High School in Provo, where I studied under some of the best music teachers in the state. I learned trombone and played in the Mid-West Clinic in Chicago as a freshman (what a thrill!). I learned to sing, and I performed with the A Cappella group in Carnegie Hall (another great thrill!). Along the way, I discovered I had talent in acting and won First Place in state competition. And as a Junior at Timpview I also won Third Place nationally in Discus in the Junior Olympics. But what really caught my attention was the soundtrack from the movie Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves. The absolutely sweeping orchestrations from that soundtrack simply captivated my soul, and I immersed myself in it several times a day. By the time I was fifteen, I knew I wanted to write music like that, and I had written my first orchestral composition. By the time I graduated high school, I had composed over two dozen full orchestral compositions.
I attended Utah Valley State College, where I learned more about ear training and orchestration techniques. Later, I moved to Los Angeles and enrolled in UCLA’s Jerry Goldsmith Film Scoring School, where I was taught by such Hollywood greats as Scott Smalley. And I learned a lot about twentieth century music. However, the cost of life in LA was too much, and I headed back to Utah to eliminate the debt I had accrued there.
Back at Utah Valley State College, I composed music for several of my best friend Mahonri Stewart’s plays and did some acting. I did some arranging for the UVSC jazz band, and even helped Mahonri write a new musical based on Charles Dickens’ book, Our Mutual Friend.
Soon after Mahonri got engaged, his fiancée invited her best friend, Emily, to a Christmas party that I attended. Christmas is a magical time, isn’t it? Emily and I were married nine months later, after a fabulously fun summer of performing together in musicals at a theater called Mack’s Inn near Yellowstone.
Emily and I began courses at the University of Utah, but I quickly became disenchanted with the head of my major, so I withdrew from the University to start writing music for a local acting troop called Hunt Mysteries. I began to write for others, as well, including directors Paul Meyers and Brandon West, as well as Dr. Michael Cutler, who was producing a health program. From these efforts, I was able to purchase all the equipment I needed to create the professional music I want to share with others.
Since then my music has really taken off with awards from film and stage festivals. With the support of my wife, and help from many friends, and family members I have been blessed with more success than I could have dreamed, and yet, the best is yet to come...
!["...the melodies and orchestrations that [Nathaniel] has written haunt and inspire me. But even more valuable than that... to find a man possessing both talent and integrity is quite rare. Nate, by some miracle of God, is such a man."
Mahonri Stewart
Playwright,/writer](Ego%20Trip_files/shapeimage_5.png)
