Today we’d like to introduce you to Josh Cavazos.
Hi Josh, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
My name is Josh Cavazos and I knew I wanted to play the piano in the 1st grade, the moment I heard Chopin’s Revolutionary Etude for the first time! I began consistent lessons and my musical path took a large turn in high school when my grandmother was diagnosed with cancer. I had never composed music before that moment, but in that season of processing this life altering change, I sat down at my instrument, and it became a refuge and an emotional outlet for me.
I composed an entire collection of piano music in my grandmother’s honor that depicted what our family was experiencing, and the hope for her healing that we carried together. We then donated the proceeds from the album sales to the Cancer Therapy Research Center of San Antonio. It was then that a strong connection to cancer relief efforts in my life was born. It was also at this time that I felt a strong calling to continue composing emotive music that connects to deep storylines and helps encourage healing, hope, and peace. I ended up completing degrees in both Piano Performance and Music Composition.
In 2021, after continuing my musical path for many years, I was asked to score music to a series by an independent filmmaker. I agreed and the process was incredible. It felt like a furthering into my calling of composing emotive music that helps to tell powerful life-changing stories. This project led to several other collaborations, including a year long series with a studio in Brazil.
In 2023, I was awarded a grant to compose the score and produce a documentary called Prayers For Cassie- an anthem and documentary of hope in the fight against cancer. This project involved a duet collaboration with Tina Guo (solo cellist to Hans Zimmer), as well as collaborations with The American Cancer Society and Dear Jack Foundation. Prayers For Cassie is inspired by my friend and former student, Cassie Martinez, who went through three years of treatment for non-Hodgkins Lymphoma, and is now cancer free. Because of my deep connection to cancer relief efforts, this project felt like the culmination of decades of intentional work, focus, and calling.
I am grateful to have been a Composer for Media on over 75 projects in the last several years. My special interest and calling continues to be supporting life changing stories of deep connection, strong purpose, and complex emotion. I look forward to continuing on my musical path into the new year.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Although it is joyous to share the highlights and major positive milestones of the journey, my path has been anything but smooth. I have experienced major setbacks, have had projects fall through that seemed destined to happen, and have had experiences that have made me question the very path I am on. One of my largest setbacks ended up being a defining moment, when I did not get into the doctoral program that I applied to years ago. It was shortly afterward that a door of opportunity opened for me to apply to several film score competitions, which eventually led to the opportunity to work on my first media series.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
At Josh Cavazos Music, I specialize in producing custom music scores that contain the full spectrum of life’s emotion, in order to fit every story’s needs and meet the vision of each director. These scores are custom made to media of all kinds including feature films, documentaries, and TV. Having a background in both contemporary and traditional composing, I also offer custom notated commissioned arrangements, orchestrations, and original works- from solo instrument to full orchestra. I am most known for the mini documentary, Prayers For Cassie, just released this year to YouTube, that features a duet performance between myself and Tina Guo (solo cellist to Hans Zimmer).
What sets me apart from others in my field are my charismatic themes, diverse orchestration, rhythmic vitality, and unique harmonic language that help to bring about a distinct compositional voice.
What I would like readers to know is, in addition to any genre or blend of music being possible for a custom film score, I also have a production team of friends that I routinely work with that can help create a film project from the ground up. Whether you need a custom score that draws forth a full spectrum of complex emotion, or if you have a story to tell and need the team to film, produce, and score it- we can help you bring your vision into reality.
Where do you see things going in the next 5-10 years?
The advent of AI has definitely changed the landscape of film and music as we head into the future. However, I think that, while it is a powerful tool that will help filmmakers and musicians generate ideas, there will always be a space for custom filmmaking and music scores to accompany them. Individualized stories, distinct experiences, and complex emotions cannot be mass produced, and thus, need to be meticulously crafted and realized by collaborative teams that can creatively bring them into reality.
Pricing:
- As each project is highly specific in its needs and scope, I would encourage readers to please reach out if they have need for a custom music score or a film production.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.joshcavazos.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/joshcavazosmusic
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/17hbDzYeLY/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/josh-cavazos-832781366
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/@jcavazos09
- Other: https://prayersforcassie.com/
