I am a contemporary classical composer who also works with media. I have experience creating, mixing, and mastering music and sound design for several live action and animation projects. I love delivering music that deepens and intensifies the story, and I would love to write music for you!…I am a contemporary classical composer who also works with media. I have experience creating, mixing, and mastering music and sound design for several live action and animation projects. I love delivering music that deepens and intensifies the story, and I would love to write music for you!WWW…
I am a contemporary classical composer who also works with media. I have experience creating, mixing, and mastering music and sound design for several live action and animation projects. I love delivering music that deepens and intensifies the story, and I would love to write music for you!…I am a contemporary classical composer who also works with media. I have experience creating, mixing, and mastering music and sound design for several live action and animation projects. I love delivering music that deepens and intensifies the story, and I would love to write music for you!WWWW…
Available to hire
I am a contemporary classical composer who also works with media. I have experience creating, mixing, and mastering music and sound design for several live action and animation projects. I love delivering music that deepens and intensifies the story, and I would love to write music for you!
Experience Level
Intermediate
Intermediate
Language
Work Experience
Education
B.M. Music Composition at Bob Cole Conservatory of Music, Long Beach
August 1, 2021 - May 1, 2025High School Diploma at Rocklin High School, Rocklin, CA
August 1, 2017 - June 1, 2021Qualifications
Industry Experience
Media & Entertainment, Education, Retail
The Collage
The Collage features some of my favorite musical moments that couldn't stand alone as a dedicated piece. The Collage features different musical islands among winds, brass, and strings.
Composer - Kainoa Rees
Conductor - Kainoa Rees
Orchestrator - Kainoa Rees
Flute - Ethan Lee
Oboe - Aaron Sergile
Tenor Sax - Cesar Lepe
Bassoon - Yanelly Avila
Trumpet 1 - Fernando Calderon
Trumpet 2 - Nathan Kaplan
Trombone - Bailey Jeffrey
Tuba - Leeann Skiba
Violin - Zee Yesilevsky
Violoncello - Nicolas Garcia
Claves - Caden Bartlett…The Collage features some of my favorite musical moments that couldn't stand alone as a dedicated piece. The Collage features different musical islands among winds, brass, and strings.
Composer - Kainoa Rees
Conductor - Kainoa Rees
Orchestrator - Kainoa Rees
Flute - Ethan Lee
Oboe - Aaron Sergile
Tenor Sax - Cesar Lepe
Bassoon - Yanelly Avila
Trumpet 1 - Fernando Calderon
Trumpet 2 - Nathan Kaplan
Trombone - Bailey Jeffrey
Tuba - Leeann Skiba
Violin - Zee Yesilevsky
Violoncello - Nicolas Garcia
Claves - Caden BartlettWW…
Sax Fugue
I have always been intrigued by the fugue because it is like a puzzle. The fugue is a discussion between melodic ideas, where the subject is passed between each voice. I chose to take this further and create a double fugue for saxophone quartet that implements extended techniques.
I had to create my own notation system for these extended techniques extensively study what was and wasn't possible for each saxophone.
Composer - Kainoa Rees
Conductor - Kainoa Rees
Soprano Sax - Emily Vu
Alto Sax - Branden Berumen
Tenor Sax - Gabriel Lopez
Baritone Sax - Christopher Basham…I have always been intrigued by the fugue because it is like a puzzle. The fugue is a discussion between melodic ideas, where the subject is passed between each voice. I chose to take this further and create a double fugue for saxophone quartet that implements extended techniques.
I had to create my own notation system for these extended techniques extensively study what was and wasn't possible for each saxophone.
Composer - Kainoa Rees
Conductor - Kainoa Rees
Soprano Sax - Emily Vu
Alto Sax - Branden Berumen
Tenor Sax - Gabriel Lopez
Baritone Sax - Christopher BashamWW…
Pointed Confrontation
"Pointed Confrontation" was born out of a Dialogue Scoring Exercise in my Media Scoring class. I was tasked with imagining a scene of serious dialogue between two people, and writing music to express what they are saying and feeling. I loved the music that I wrote for this exercise so much that I decided to expand this piece into something larger.
I chose to expand this piece in the Laptop Ensemble because I felt that there was still more to this tory, and that there was a lot of potential. I added actual lines of dialogue to this music, and I created a world out of sound design.
Pointed Confrontation blends the acoustic and the electric sounds to create an unforgettable scene between Don and Casey.
Composer - Kainoa Rees
Sound Designer - Kainoa Rees
Conductor - Kainoa Rees
Violoncello - Natalie Avila
Electric Guitar - Max Cocco
Piano - Thomas Taylor
Trumpet - Nathan Townsend
Don - Kainoa Rees
Casey - Dylan Wicks…"Pointed Confrontation" was born out of a Dialogue Scoring Exercise in my Media Scoring class. I was tasked with imagining a scene of serious dialogue between two people, and writing music to express what they are saying and feeling. I loved the music that I wrote for this exercise so much that I decided to expand this piece into something larger.
I chose to expand this piece in the Laptop Ensemble because I felt that there was still more to this tory, and that there was a lot of potential. I added actual lines of dialogue to this music, and I created a world out of sound design.
Pointed Confrontation blends the acoustic and the electric sounds to create an unforgettable scene between Don and Casey.
Composer - Kainoa Rees
Sound Designer - Kainoa Rees
Conductor - Kainoa Rees
Violoncello - Natalie Avila
Electric Guitar - Max Cocco
Piano - Thomas Taylor
Trumpet - Nathan Townsend
Don - Kainoa Rees
Casey - Dylan WicksWW…
'Opihi - TTBB
I chose to write about the 'Opihi because of its link to Native Hawaiian culture. There is legend surrounding this limpet fish, and I wanted to take a fresh approach that still honored the Native Hawaiian culture.
I was inspired by the lines in the Hawaiian Creation Myth about the 'Opihi, and how the text makes the 'Opihi sound mythical. I was also inspired to use a Hawaiian Proverb that had gone out of style, so I could breathe life and carry wisdom through my piece.
I combined both of these into a story about the Fisherman, Ka Lawai'a, and the 'Opihi. I placed the Creation Myth at the start, symbolizing the birth of the 'Opihi as, "The Fish of Death,"and ended with the Hawaiian proverb, "Though the sea be deep and rough, the coral rock remains standing," advocating for attributes that are foreign to the legend of the 'Opihi.
Lyrics and Translations
Hānau ka Makaiauli o ka ‘Opihi kana
keiki Puka
Born was the big limpet, his child the
small limpet came forth
Ka I’a oka Make
Ka Lawai’a make kai
The Fish of Death
The Fisherman by the water
He mea hopu i kona maka
Nānā pono Ka Lawai’a
Something catches his eye
The Fisherman looks closely
“Aue he aha keia?”
“Aue I’a o ka Make!”
“Oh, what is this?”
“Oh, the Fish of Death!”
Kali ana,
Ho'omanawanui.
Waiting,
Patience.
Koho pono,
Me ka pololei.
Choose carefully,
with precision.
Akahele!
With caution!
Manawame nā nalu,
Time it with the waves,
Ano.
Now.
Me ke kanalua ole, ku’i Ka Lawai’a.
Without hesitation, the Fisherman
strikes.
Pahima kona lima, ho’o lua i ka ‘Opihi.
Knife in his hand, dueling the ‘Opihi.
Pilikia, Poino, Ho’okahi hana hewa…
Peril, Doom, One wrong move…
Though the sea be deep and rough, the coral rock remains standing.
Composer - Kainoa Rees
Conductor - Kainoa Rees
Tenor 1:
Dylan Wicks
Nate Noriega
Chris Guerrini
Tenor 2:
Jan Luke Tariga
Brendan Cheng
Don Del Barrio
Bass 1:
John Romo
Christopher Truong
Jon Hebel
Bass 2:
Owen Williams
Gabriel Jones
Akoni Bacungan
Bass Drum:
Caden Bartlett…I chose to write about the 'Opihi because of its link to Native Hawaiian culture. There is legend surrounding this limpet fish, and I wanted to take a fresh approach that still honored the Native Hawaiian culture.
I was inspired by the lines in the Hawaiian Creation Myth about the 'Opihi, and how the text makes the 'Opihi sound mythical. I was also inspired to use a Hawaiian Proverb that had gone out of style, so I could breathe life and carry wisdom through my piece.
I combined both of these into a story about the Fisherman, Ka Lawai'a, and the 'Opihi. I placed the Creation Myth at the start, symbolizing the birth of the 'Opihi as, "The Fish of Death,"and ended with the Hawaiian proverb, "Though the sea be deep and rough, the coral rock remains standing," advocating for attributes that are foreign to the legend of the 'Opihi.
Lyrics and Translations
Hānau ka Makaiauli o ka ‘Opihi kana
keiki Puka
Born was the big limpet, his child the
small limpet came forth
Ka I’a oka Make
Ka Lawai’a make kai
The Fish of Death
The Fisherman by the water
He mea hopu i kona maka
Nānā pono Ka Lawai’a
Something catches his eye
The Fisherman looks closely
“Aue he aha keia?”
“Aue I’a o ka Make!”
“Oh, what is this?”
“Oh, the Fish of Death!”
Kali ana,
Ho'omanawanui.
Waiting,
Patience.
Koho pono,
Me ka pololei.
Choose carefully,
with precision.
Akahele!
With caution!
Manawame nā nalu,
Time it with the waves,
Ano.
Now.
Me ke kanalua ole, ku’i Ka Lawai’a.
Without hesitation, the Fisherman
strikes.
Pahima kona lima, ho’o lua i ka ‘Opihi.
Knife in his hand, dueling the ‘Opihi.
Pilikia, Poino, Ho’okahi hana hewa…
Peril, Doom, One wrong move…
Though the sea be deep and rough, the coral rock remains standing.
Composer - Kainoa Rees
Conductor - Kainoa Rees
Tenor 1:
Dylan Wicks
Nate Noriega
Chris Guerrini
Tenor 2:
Jan Luke Tariga
Brendan Cheng
Don Del Barrio
Bass 1:
John Romo
Christopher Truong
Jon Hebel
Bass 2:
Owen Williams
Gabriel Jones
Akoni Bacungan
Bass Drum:
Caden BartlettWW…
Adventure / Song Cycle
This is the beginning of my Senior Composition Recital at the Bob Cole Conservatory of Music on April 12th, 2025.
I opened with Adventure (the first 30 seconds), and followed with my 3 movement Song Cycle based around poetry from Shel Silverstein’s book, Where the Sidewalk Ends, with each poem relating to a different moment in time; past, present, and future. There is no pause in between each movement.
Composer - Kainoa Rees
Singer - Calvin Hsu
Pianist - Jason Griffin
Movement I - Forgotten Language - Past
Once I spoke the language of the flowers,
Once I understood each word the caterpillar said,
Once I smiled in secret at the gossip of the starlings,
And shared a conversation with the housefly
in my bed.
Once I heard and answered all the questions
of the crickets,
And joined the crying of each falling dying
flake of snow,
Once I spoke the language of the flowers. . . .
How did it go?
How did it go?
Movement II - Rain - Present
I opened my eyes
And looked up at the rain,
And it dripped in my head
And flowed into my brain,
And all that I hear as I lie in my bed
Is the slishity-slosh of the rain in my head.
I step very softly,
I walk very slow,
I can’t do a handstand –
I might overflow,
So pardon the wild crazy thing I just said –
I’m just not the same since there’s rain in my head.
Movement III - Where the Sidewalk Ends - Future
There is a place where the sidewalk ends
And before the street begins,
And there the grass grows soft and white,
And there the sun burns crimson bright,
And there the moon-bird rests from his flight
To cool in the peppermint wind.
Let us leave this place where the smoke blows black
And the dark street winds and bends.
Past the pits where the asphalt flowers grow
We shall walk with a walk that is measured and slow,
And watch where the chalk-white arrows go
To the place where the sidewalk ends.
Y es we'll walk with a walk that is measured and slow,
And we'll go where the chalk-white arrows go,
For the children, they mark, and the children, they know
The place where the sidewalk ends.…This is the beginning of my Senior Composition Recital at the Bob Cole Conservatory of Music on April 12th, 2025.
I opened with Adventure (the first 30 seconds), and followed with my 3 movement Song Cycle based around poetry from Shel Silverstein’s book, Where the Sidewalk Ends, with each poem relating to a different moment in time; past, present, and future. There is no pause in between each movement.
Composer - Kainoa Rees
Singer - Calvin Hsu
Pianist - Jason Griffin
Movement I - Forgotten Language - Past
Once I spoke the language of the flowers,
Once I understood each word the caterpillar said,
Once I smiled in secret at the gossip of the starlings,
And shared a conversation with the housefly
in my bed.
Once I heard and answered all the questions
of the crickets,
And joined the crying of each falling dying
flake of snow,
Once I spoke the language of the flowers. . . .
How did it go?
How did it go?
Movement II - Rain - Present
I opened my eyes
And looked up at the rain,
And it dripped in my head
And flowed into my brain,
And all that I hear as I lie in my bed
Is the slishity-slosh of the rain in my head.
I step very softly,
I walk very slow,
I can’t do a handstand –
I might overflow,
So pardon the wild crazy thing I just said –
I’m just not the same since there’s rain in my head.
Movement III - Where the Sidewalk Ends - Future
There is a place where the sidewalk ends
And before the street begins,
And there the grass grows soft and white,
And there the sun burns crimson bright,
And there the moon-bird rests from his flight
To cool in the peppermint wind.
Let us leave this place where the smoke blows black
And the dark street winds and bends.
Past the pits where the asphalt flowers grow
We shall walk with a walk that is measured and slow,
And watch where the chalk-white arrows go
To the place where the sidewalk ends.
Y es we'll walk with a walk that is measured and slow,
And we'll go where the chalk-white arrows go,
For the children, they mark, and the children, they know
The place where the sidewalk ends.WW…
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