Esin Aydingoz Named Assistant Chair of Berklee's Film Scoring Department

Composer Esin Aydingoz B.M. ’17 has been named the new assistant chair of Berklee's Film Scoring Department. She will begin at the college on July 1.

Aydingoz is a TV, film, and video game composer from Istanbul, Turkey, and a Berklee alumna who graduated with a degree in contemporary writing and production and film scoring. Her recent work includes Simchas and Sorrows, The Prevalence, Kino Lorber's Cinema's First Nasty Women, and the shorts The Monster of the Desert and Noor, which led to accolades for her score. Aydingoz composed additional music for Bear McCreary on Apple TV's SEE, for Anne-Kathrin Dern on Hallmark's One Summer and Presence of Love, and for JP Rende on an upcoming animated Netflix show based on the book series Princesses Wear Pants. She also arranged for Tim Burton’s Netflix series, Wednesday.

In her new role, Aydingoz will work with Sean McMahon, chair of the Film Scoring Department, to ensure that the student experience at Berklee keeps pace with the ever-changing nature of the film music industry. She will coordinate student recording sessions, help launch Berklee’s new bachelor’s program in game and interactive media scoring (GAIMS), develop partnerships with leading companies in scoring technologies, organize visiting artist workshops, and teach courses.

“I can’t thank my family, professors, colleagues, and the Alliance for Women Film Composers enough for helping me gain the necessary knowledge and experience within five years of graduation, and I can’t thank Berklee enough for believing in me once again,” said Aydingoz. “The amount of happiness and inspiration this institution has given me is truly endless. I’m feeling gratitude, joy, and excitement in a way that I’ve never experienced before, and I can’t wait to channel that into my music. It is really important for me to make our department proud as an alumna as well. I will do my best to stay active as a composer in order to honor my remaining dreams and set a good example for our students.”

In addition to her scoring work, Aydingoz has received acclaim for her work as assistant music director for Disney's a cappella group, DCappella, and has served as a music director on many other musicals and festivals, including a performance at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. She has also arranged for Grammy Award–winning artists such as Lalo Schifrin and Booker T. Jones, for various Disney albums and concerts and for the launch of Disney+ in Turkey, where she performed with the Istanbul Film Music Orchestra. She also worked on several concerts at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles. Her chamber music and solo piano works have been performed in the United States, Turkey, Latvia, and Taiwan, and she will premiere her new orchestral and choral piece "A Shattered Fantasy" in October at the Auditorium Stravinski in Montreux, Switzerland.

“I can't wait for Esin Aydingoz to join the screen scoring team and to start our work together,” said McMahon. “She brings great energy and experience to the department and program. The students will love her!”

Aydingoz is a voting member for the Recording Academy, a board member and secretary for the Alliance for Women Film Composers, and an early-career committee member for the Society of Composers and Lyricists. She is represented by Peter Hackman of Different Directions Management.