Sibelius Takes Composer Douglas J. Cuomo beyond Stage, Screen and TV

'Stage, screen, television and beyond' may sound like a well-used phrase lifted from an actor's bio, but it is precisely where Douglas J. Cuomo has found success as one of today's most versatile composers.

With credits ranging from television scores to teen pop to serious contemporary composition, Cuomo's music can be heard behind some of TV's most popular shows, including the title themes for the HBO mega-hit Sex and the City , Committed (NBC), and Now with Bill Moyers (PBS), plus underscores for Homicide: Life on the Street (NBC) and Now and Again (CBS). His work for theater includes the Tony-nominated Anna Christie , The Visit , Candida , Design for Living , The Women , Blue Man Group/Tubes and Hamlet . Cuomo has also scored the independent films Handgun (with Treat Williams), In the Weeds ( with Molly Ringwald and Eric Bogosian) and Revolution #9 (with the late Spalding Gray), and has credits on multi-platinum albums for superstars Britney Spears and *NSYNC.

After earning a degree in jazz/guitar performance from the University of Miami , Cuomo began his career as a professional musician playing guitar with various jazz ensembles, eventually leaving the road to pursue his first love, writing music. His score for Atomic Opera , a musical theater piece, eventually led to work in TV.

"I'm always looking for projects that will allow me to do something interesting," he says, "whether that involves writing for my own projects, a film or a TV series. Each obviously has a different set of rules and expectations, but I genuinely enjoy doing all those things."

A common thread running through his diverse musical landscape is his choice of writing tools, Sibelius 3. "I was one of the early users, going back to version 1.0," he explains. "The program is an ideal work palette. When writing commercial music—underscoring ancillary scenes for TV, for instance—Sibelius helps me generate scores and parts for recording sessions quickly. Cues are often short, due to the nature of visual edits, so I'll create a MIDI realization of the score with LOGIC, let the producers listen and give me their input. I'll then put the appropriate changes in LOGIC, create a new MIDI file, import it into Sibelius and knock out the scores and parts from there. The scores look great, and the program offers complete control.

"With my own music, my ideas go on paper first, and as early as they start to take some sort of form, I'll input them into Sibelius as 'drafts.' I then print out the scores, make corrections and enter the changes. It keeps the process less confusing, and my latest versions can live within the program instead of on hundreds of sheets of score paper."

Cuomo is currently using Sibelius in preparation for the recording of Arjuna's Dilemma , his original lyric opera for thirteen instruments, five singers, "lots of meter changes and non-traditional harmonies."

"It's always a pleasure to know that Sibelius has helped to play a part in the success of a composer like Doug," said Bill Reilly, President, Sibelius USA, Inc. "Doug joins a growing list of Film and TV composers using Sibelius, including Alf Clausen, Bruce Broughton, Bruce Fowler, Don Grusin, Emilio Kauderer and many others."

To date, there are more than 100,000 Sibelius users worldwide, including conductor Michael Tilson-Thomas, guitarist Andy Summers, choral composer John Rutter and television composer Alf Clausen.

Notes to editors

About Sibelius

Sibelius Software Ltd. is based in London, England. Its U.S. subsidiary, Sibelius USA, Inc., is located at 1407 Oakland Blvd., Suite 103, Walnut Creek, California, 94596 and has offices in Baltimore, Cleveland, Dallas and Nashville. Sibelius products are available worldwide in more than 100 countries. For more information, contact Sibelius USA at phone (925) 280-0600; fax (925) 280-0008; on the Web at www.sibelius.com; or via e-mail at infoUSA@sibelius.com.