BMI Foundation Announces 2023 Pete Carpenter Fellows
New York NY/Los Angeles, CA – November 9, 2023 - BMI Foundation, Inc. named composers Bryan Garbe and Louis Stevens as recipients of the 2023 Pete Carpenter Fellowship, a competitive residency for aspiring film, television, and video game composers. In addition to the monetary award, Louis Stevens will work with mentors Tony Morales (BLOODLINE, THE ENDGAME) and Fil Eisler (THE DESPERATE HOUR, EMPIRE) at their studios in Los Angeles, California, while Bryan Garbe will work with mentors Gil Talmi (HARRY & MEGAN, LEAD ME HOME) and Trevor Gureckis (THE GOLDFINCH, OLD) in New York City. Composer Hana Elion was also named as runner-up for the award.
“This has truly been a landmark year for the Fellowship," shared Reema Iqbal, Executive Director, Creative - Film, TV & Visual Media. "With almost 400 extraordinary applications, this was an incredibly difficult decision. I’m excited about our remarkably talented winners, and I also know that the future of film, television, and video game composition is bright."
Established in 1989 by composer and BMI Foundation Artistic Consultant Mike Post, the Fellowship honors the memory of the late composer Pete Carpenter who, alongside Mike Post, co-composed television themes and scores including The A-Team, Magnum P.I., GRAMMY-Award winning The Rockford Files, Hardcastle and McCormick, Hunter and Riptide.
The Fellowship was expanded in 2022 to grant two $3,000 stipends for up to five weeks of intensive, in-studio mentorship with established composers in the Los Angeles and New York areas, and offers the opportunity to consult with other distinguished film, television, and gaming composers and leaders in the entertainment industry. Applications for the fellowship, which open annually in the summer, are evaluated by leading film, television, and gaming composers across both coasts.
In receiving this Fellowship, Garbe and Stevens join an elite group of previous honorees who have thriving careers in television and film including EMMY-winning composers Chris Beck (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Frozen) and Roger Neill (Chicago Hope, King of the Hill, Mozart in the Jungle), Christopher Tyng (Futurama, The O.C., Suits) and Atli Örvarsson (The Perfect Guy, Chicago Fire, Chicago Med, and Chicago PD), to name a few.
About the Honorees
Bryan Garbe is a composer and multi-instrumentalist who specializes in drums, percussion, and steel pan. Over the past two decades, he has toured worldwide, recorded with Grammy Award-winning artists, and performed in some of the most notable venues in New York City, including Madison Square Garden and The Beacon Theater. Most recently, he was accepted into the Society of Composers and Lyricists' 2021 Mentor Program and NYU's Screen Scoring 2022 Summer Workshops. Bryan's newest project, CASTOFF, began with the goal of creating music for visual media, showcasing creative steel pan. It has now evolved into a continuous search for interesting sounds—a space for collaboration and creativity. He now composes for music houses across the globe.
Louis Stevens is an Australian composer and multi-instrumentalist with particular interests in music for multimedia. With a compositional outlook concerned with the complexities of human relationships, Louis’ music evokes emotive experiences for his audience. Louis takes inspiration from the post-minimalist style that gives emphasis to texture, expressive use of color and the bridge between electronic and acoustic sound-worlds. Whilst completing a Bachelor of Music at the University of Melbourne, Louis was awarded the Joyce Mckenna travel scholarship and Brian May Award to complete postgraduate study internationally. Louis recently completed a Masters in Screen Scoring at NYU and continues to develop his network across an international landscape.
Hana Elion is a Los Angeles-based songwriter, music producer, composer, and engineer. As one half of the indie-pop duo Overcoats, Elion’s songs have amassed more than 100 million global streams. Elion is open and available for scoring & producing opportunities.
About the BMI Foundation, Inc.
The BMI Foundation is a nonprofit organization founded in 1985 to encourage the creation, performance, and study of American music. The Foundation’s programs include competitive scholarships for songwriters and composers, operating grants for nonprofit arts presenters, and support for innovative music education initiatives in schools and communities across the country. For more information about the work of the Foundation, please visit our website at www.bmifoundation.org. For exclusive news and content, follow @bmifoundation on Twitter and Instagram, and like BMI Foundation on Facebook.
Media Contact
BMI Foundation - Susan Bywaters - 212-220-3175 - susan@bmifoundation.org
