Celebrating Black History Month: Composer Showcase
Spectra Creative Agency values the importance of promoting visibility to underrepresented composers to broaden narrative horizons and multicultural authenticity within the film and television industry. This Black History Month we proudly showcase and celebrate three composers for their excellence in the composing community and their work to pave the way for aspiring Black composers, artists, and musicians.
EmmoLei Sankofa (she/her) is an American composer, producer, musician, and artist whose work spans music, visual media, and fine art. EmmoLei’s original music can be heard on Lizzo’s Emmy-Award winning series Watch Out For the Big Grrrls on Amazon, Shudder/AMC's horror anthology film Horror Noire, Starz’s third season of Step Up, the stand-out indie comedy Three Ways, and so much more. Her unique approach to rhythmic textures and symbolism reflects the methodical approach to storytelling through her music that is uniquely her sound.
An award-winning composer and multi-instrumentalist, Stanley A. Smith (he/him) has a career that spans record production, commercials, short films, web series, documentaries, features, soundtracks, and television. His music can be heard in series such as The Bernie Mac Show (FOX) and Let’s Stay Together (BET), and Are We There Yet? (TBS), in addition to most recently the second half of Season 2 of Ava DuVernay's award-winning hit, the one-hour anthology series Cherish The Day. This seasoned composer’s music spans a wide emotional range and always strives to achieve authenticity with strong thematic melodies.
Stefan L. Smith (he/him) has written music for concert halls, film, TV, video games, R&B, pop, EDM, as well as maintaining an extensive professional symphonic and recording performance career. He has served as principal (and/or acting principal) violist with the Hollywood Studio Symphony, Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, The Academy's Oscars Orchestra, and many others. A recent winner of the 2022 Hollywood Music in Media Award for his score to the critically-acclaimed animated short “She Dreams At Sunrise”, and with an exciting new animated studio feature on the horizon, Stefan bridges the gap between the classical and contemporary music world, doing so with skillful command of the orchestra’s breadth and artistry.
