H. Scott Salinas

Playing guitar since the age of twelve, Scott Salinas began his musical career on the small island of St. Croix in the Unites States Virgin Islands. Scott soon became known as an accomplished sideman and toured the island in reggae and blues bands. In 1993, Scott left his island home to major in music at Princeton University. While there, he founded Blue Light District, an alternative rock band that was a much anticipated act on the student social scene. Through his music studies, Scott discovered jazz and classical music, turning his whole musical world upside down. He scored three short films including the all-guitar psychological thriller Kentucky Motel, and completed a 20-minute mini-opera that debuted at a concert heralding classical greats Yo-Yo Ma (cello) and Edgar Meyer (bass), and Pulitzer Prize winning author Toni Morrison. After graduating from Princeton Magna Cum Laude in 1997, Scott continued his education at Berklee College of Music in Boston, where he concentrated in film scoring and honed his jazz guitar skills. Scott learned the technical and dramatic aspects of composing music for film while working with industry professionals. In the summer of 2000, he was awarded the prestigious Berklee College of Music Segue Internship Award. This included a scholarship for his final semester at Berklee and an all-expenses paid trip to Los Angeles for a month-long internship at Segue Music, the largest film music editing company in Hollywood. At Segue, Scott had the unique opportunity to work with world-renowned composers and directors, sealing his decision to forge a career in scoring for film. In June of 2002, Scott was the youngest person ever to be named Grand Prize Winner in the Turner Classic Movies Young Film Composers Competition. Scott was selected from over 450 contestants by a panel of film industry experts including Don Davis (The Matrix (1999), Jurassic Park III (2001)) and others. The prize included a paid assignment to compose the score to classic silent film, Laugh, Clown, Laugh (1928) and the opportunity to record the score with a full Hollywood film scoring orchestra. Recent film credits include: Edison (2005) (Toronto Film Festival 2005), an action thriller starring Kevin Spacey, Morgan Freeman, LL Cool J, and Justin Timberlake; Conventioneers (2005) (Indie Spirit Award Winner 2006), a love story and political satire taking place at the 2004 Republican National Convention in New York; 51 Birch Street (2005) (Toronto Film Festival 2005), a beautiful documentary for HBO; and The Red Lily (1924) a modern score to the silent film classic.