Alumni Spotlight: Carl Rydlund
College of Music Alumni Carl Rydlund泭
Since completing a bachelors in music at the CU Boulder College of Music, composer, orchestrator, arranger, conductor and guitarist Carl Rydlund (Guitar, 89) hasnt missed a beat.
Continuing his education at the Grove School of Music (composition, film composition and arrangement) and privately (more composition, along with orchestration, conducting and guitar), Rydlund thrived in Los Angeles. He started performing for record, TV and film dates on guitar, and worked as an arranger and copyist at Joann Kane Music and Disney.
During the last 10 years or so, Ive been focusing on film and live orchestral work as an arranger and orchestrator, conductor and guitarist, he says. Indeed, his broad experience makes him one of the most sought-after studio musicians in Los Angeles with credits that comprise everything from video games and TV series to a long list of filmsfrom Life of Pi and Batman films to Inception, Dunkirk, The Matrix and Toy Story 2 to Unfaithful, What Women Want and 101 Dalmatians to hundreds more familiar titles. Not to mention, his concert creditsand credits for albums and live performancesinclude, among others, Hans Zimmer Live, Interstellar Live at Royal Albert Hall, the 2012 Academy Awards and Barbra Streisands A Christmas Album and Timeless live performance; as well as various stints as arranger and composer for the Boston Symphony Orchestra and the erstwhile Denver Symphony Orchestra.
Rydlund recalls making crucial career connections as a student at the College of Music. I probably wouldnt be where I am today without making good connections along the way, he says. Specifically, having studied with William泭"Doc泭Fowler at CU led to connecting with his son, Bruce Fowler, who happened to be Hans Zimmers lead orchestrator. When the opportunity arose to work with Hans, Bruce gave me the benefit of the doubt because I had studied with his dad at CU.
That said, Rydlunds original plan wasnt to land in Los Angelesrather, The Juilliard School. For a kid from Denver, going to New York in the mid-80s was a hair-raising experience, he says. I auditioned on clarinet, but also said I might want to minor in guitar.
I was told Id be offered a full ride on clarinet, but that the guitar wasliterallynot a musical instrument. So I decided to check out CU because it seemed like a better fit for me, and I was still close enough to home to play in my dads band on the weekends and do local session work.
Rydlund says he appreciated the open, progressive nature of the College of Music that allowed him to follow his interests in composition, clarinet and guitar. He also benefited from the then-nascent music business program when no one else was talking about that aspect of having a career in music.
Besides Doc Fowlers huge influence on me, the College of Music also created an environment to learn from guest artists that Doc Fowler brought in, who were active in the business and who could really talk about what its like in LA, adds Rydlund.
But he doesnt sugarcoat the challenges of his chosen career path. The tough news is that its becoming more challenging for people to find work in the studios the way I did when I came to LA. But on the positive side, there are no rules or ladders to climb now.
It used to be that you started out as I didas a player, proofreader泭or copyist and then became an orchestrator, then a conductor and composerwhich is the path Im still on. But today, thats changed. If you want to be a composer, you can just go out and do that. Because there are no rules, you might as well do what you want to do from the outset.
Concludes Rydlund, I am the biggest proponent of making a living at this. To do so, you have to get to a point where you are so good at your craftat solving problems and meeting challenges. From the time I wake up in the morning, my job is providing solutions and I love that.