About Me

Welcome

Victor Spiegel builds innovative harmonies and rhythms with lyricism grown from both familiar and exotic worlds. Victor started his piano concert career at the age of six performing classical repertoire up to the age of fifteen. He then decided to focus on composing and performing his own material. He received a Bachelor of Arts from the University of California in Performance Integration of World Myths and Music. There he wrote, directed and performed his Magic Door musical, and composed and conducted his ensembles and symphonic works.

His Master of Arts in Music Composition from Mills College in Oakland, California solidified his academic and professional involvement in scoring for diverse media. It also provided him a basis for subsequent directing and involvement in teaching, film and video work.

Recent Scores:

Works in progress (as writer, director, composer):

  • Future Present – documentary/feature regarding genetic ethics
  • LoveDotCom – TV comedy series about a successful but dysfunctional dating service
  • Darkside High – TV comedy series for tee
  • Full Moon Over Faulconbridge – radio play, feature film, TV series, stage ply, musical, novel
  • Silver Light – feature
  • The Magic Horse – Musical

Recordings Available

Film Scores and Soundtracks

  • Dolls
  • Piecing Memories,
  • I Exist,
  • Chaos,
  • Homecoming,
  • Déjà Vu,
  • The Return,
  • Alice Rose,
  • Apple Computer,
  • Glaxo/Kline,
  • University of California

Screenplays

  • LoveDotCom – TV comedy series
  • Full Moon Over Faulconbridge – Audio, theatre and film screenplay
  • New Dawn – Horror
  • The Magic Horse – Story adaptation
  • Silver Light – Australian adventure/mystery

Operas/Musicals

  • The Magic Door – produced and performed in University of California, Santa Cruz (1978) The Magician – recorded in Berkeley, California (1982)
  • I Love Animals – a musical for children, produced and performed in San Francisco, California (1986)
  • Fyon K’ Poornt (The Bone of Contention) a Mangoid Opera; Oakland, California (1986)

Books

Directing

  • Benn Gunn – music video 2012
  • LoveDotCom – Sydney, NSW 2011
  • The Magic Door – musical 1978
  • The Mangoid Opera – opera, California 1986
  • Pro-Creation – performed in Sydney at Jack Thompson’s Gearin Hotel 2010

Acting

  • Perfect World – Allan Stone music video (the guy with the cape)
  • The Magic Horse – story-telling, pianist and composer
  • Murder Mysteries in the Blue Mountains (The Don)
  • One-man shows (Mills College, University of California, Santa Cruz)
  • Bliss n Eso music video trailer (the bad teacher)

Other Projects

  • Morrison Planetarium, San Francisco – various presentations 
  • Imperialism 2 (computer game)
  • How We First Met – San Francisco Night Club Improvisational Theater
  • Gundam (computer game) – Bandai Inc.
  • Sing Myself a Lullaby – Score for Choreography and Performance
  • Scores for Choreographers Ellen Bromberg, Karl Schaeffer, Sharon Zozoya Nova (WGBH, Boston)
  • www.listenforlife.org
  • Improvisational comedy: San Francisco, Sydney, Melbourne

Teaching Experience

  • Music Lecturer – JMC Academy, Sydney (2006 – present)
  • Music for 9th Graders – City Arts and Technology, San Francisco (2004)
  • AEMDD – (Grant from US Dept. of Education through Walnut Creek) (2003-2006 4th & 5th grades)
  • Making Music – Summer 3rd and 4th grade (2003 -5))
  • Music for Theater – Summer 5th – 8th grade (2003 & 4)
  • Music for K-8 (Artist–in–Residence) Morello Park (Martinez) K, 2004
    Sun Terrace School (Concord) K-4, 2003
  • The Academy (Berkeley) 1998 – 2000
  • Frank McCoppin Elementary (San Francisco) 1997
  • Argonne Elementary, 4 kindergarten classes (San Francisco) 1996
  • Private Lessons (1968-present)
  • Piano, Composition, Electronic Music, MIDI, Recording, Music Appreciation, Music Theory, Jazz, Improvisation, World Music
  • Music for Dancers Workshop (1995) Luna, Oakland;
  • Cabrillo College Visiting Assistant Professor in Music (1982)
  • Florida State University, Tallahassee Piano Instructor (1978-79)
  • Cabrillo College Music Appreciation (1978) UCSC Music workshops ( 1978, ‘79, ‘82) Cabrillo College Drama Instructor (1991,’92)
  • Tehiya Day School

Education

  • Mills College: Music Composition 1979 – 81 Master of Arts
  • University of California, Santa Cruz- Music 1975 – 77
  • Bachelor of Arts California Institute of the Arts 1969 – 70 Music
  • Santa Monica College 1967 – 68 Music
  • California State University, Northridge 1966 – 67 Music/English
  • Bruce Sutherland & Amparo Iturbi 1953 – 68 Piano

Related Experience

  • Owner/Engineer/Producer: Victor Spiegel Music 1982 – present
  • Composer/Accompanist: Dance Departments of: UCLA, UCSC, UCB, UCR, California Institute of the Arts; Loyola/Marymount; Cabrillo College; Mills College, and other Bay Area and Los Angeles dance studios and companies (1967-present)
  • Composer: Commissions for dance, theater, film, video, radio, television, commercials, and industrials (1968 – present) (See client list)
  • Music Director: Berkeley Shakespeare Festival (1989);
  • Deer Rose– Theater on the Square, San Francisco (1988);
  • I Love Animals; (1995) and other musicals

Awards, Credentials, Affiliations

  • Australian Film Institute Australian
  • Australian Guild of Screen Composers
  • California Community College Instructor Credential in Music, valid for life
  • American Composer’s Forum
    National Television Arts Award (1990)
  • Paul Merritt Henry Prize for Masters Thesis, Mills College (1981)
  • Sweepstakes Award Hollywood Bowl Battle of the Bands- Jazz Combo (1967)
  • BMI publisher
  • APRA

Selected Projects and Clients

  • Academy of Sciences Addison-Wesley, Inc.
  • Apple Computers, Inc.
  • Bantam Books, Inc.
  • Chicago Art Museum
  • Digital Equipment Corporation
  • Empire Pictures
  • Glaxo/Kline, Inc.
  • KQED-TV, San Francisco
  • KTVU-TV, Oakland
  • Lockheed Missiles & Space
  • Nova (WGBH – Boston)
  • Port of Oakland
  • Sprint, Inc.
  • Bandai, Inc.
  • Getty Museum, Los Angeles

Performances

  • The Magic Horse: Sydney (2007) Melbourne (2007, 2009)
  • Darvish: Joan Sutherland Performing Arts Centre (2008)

Industrial, Video and Multimedia

  • Introduction to Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratories
  • Bridge Media (2003) Piecing Memories: Recollections of Internment
  • Civil Liberties Education program (2000)
  • The New Millennium – hour-long review of 1900-2000, no narration. KRON-TV (2001) Science in Action – University of California TV show, Lorisa Brannon (2000)
  • Anatomy of an Electric Shock – Video, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratories (1999) Imperialism 2 – CD Rom game Frog City/Broderbund (1998)
  • ESnet video series – Lawrence Berkeley Livermore National Laboratories (DOE) (1997) Jobs for Youth – EDD (Employment Development Department) video (1997)
  • Women in Science – CD Rom, McLean Media (1996)
  • Gundam – CD Rom game for Bandai Interactive software game (1996)
  • Oompala – Electronic Sports Trading Cards (1996)
  • Berkeley Learning Technologies – CD Rom Hoboken (1995)
  • Accolade – SCES Show, video (1994)
  • Glaxo/Kline, Inc. – New Product Presentation Video (1994)
  • NSF Industry/University Research Centers – Catalysts for Change (1994)
  • Port of Oakland – Marketing video (1993, 1997)
  • General Parametrics – Multimedia demo (1993)
  • California Parks Union – Informational Video (1992)
  • Sprint – Interactive Computer Presentation (1992)
  • Biotime – Promotional video (1992)
  • Symantec – TimeLine Informational Video and in-house videos (1991)
  • Apple Computer, Inc. – Consider the Possibilities Marketing Video (1990)
  • Peerless Lighting Corporation – Health, Work & Light (1990)
  • California State Auto Association – In-House sales training Video (1990, 91)
  • Lockheed Missiles & Space – Promotional video (1990)
  • WATG – International architectural slide presentation
  • Oakland Museum – Laserdisk informational station, History Exhibit (1990)
  • Claris Interactive Demo – Computer software demonstration (1990)

Theater

  • Angels in America (2015) Sydney, Australia
  • To Kill A Mockingbird (2014) Sydney, Australia
  • The Tempest – (Shakespeare) Directed by John Galea. Sidetrack Theatre, Marrickville (2012)
  • Man and Superman – (Shaw) Directed by Irene Lewis. Berkeley Repertory Theater (1990) The Misanthrope – (Moliere) Directed by Irene Lewis. Berkeley Repertory Theater (1989) Julius Caesar – (Shakespeare) Directed by Oskar Eustis. Berkeley Shakespeare Festival (1988)
    The Normal Heart – Berkeley Repertory Theater (1985)

Film & Documentaries

  • Laura of My Dreams – short Terry Lamb (2004)
  • Widow Maker – short 2004
  • Making David – Independent Film short, Echuta Productions (2002)
  • Dig That Rex! – Video about discovery and reconstruction T Rex fossil for McDonald’s (1998)
  • Beyond Awareness – Documentary. Produced by Avalon Media & Marin Abused Women’s Services (1995)
  • Sacred Art of Tibet – Documentary. Produced by Access Video (1991)
  • Incentive Scholarships – University of California, Berkeley (1992, 93, 94, 95
  • Distinguished Teaching Awards – University of California, Berkeley (1992, 93, 94, 95, 96) English Language Program – University of California, Berkeley (1991)
  • People of the Klamath – Documentary. Produced by Jim Culp (1989)
  • Preparing for the 21st Century – Documentary. Directed by Ian Thiermann. Educational Film & Video Project (1988)
  • View from the Shuttle – Addison-Wesley , produced by McLean Media (1994)
  • Dolls – Feature film. Directed by Stuart Gordon. Empire Pictures (1987)

Television & Radio 

  • Time Capsule – KTVU 1 hour documentary of the last century
  • Digital Equipment Corporation – Radio commercial (1992)
  • University of California Art Museum – PSA for TV-
  • Anxious Art Exhibit (1990) PSA for TV –
  • The Art of Terezin (1992) Medallion Rug Gallery – Commercial, TV & Radio (1990)
  • Muscle Building With Karen Andes –
  • Commercial Videos (1989, 92)
  • Hawaiian Eye Care Center – Robert Talent & Partners Agency. TV Commercial (1992, 95) University of California Extension – TV Commercial (1989),
  • Video Logo (1994)
  • The Microwave Master – Produced by KQED-TV, Theme Music (1988)
  • Four Dances – Produced by KQED-TV (1985)
  • Antarctica: The Last Frontier – Nova Science Series, PBS, WGBH-TV (1982)
  • Speaking of Music – Radio Series Theme, KPFA-FM, Berkeley (1985)
  • Difference Tones – Radio Series Theme KPFA-FM, Berkeley (1992)

Other

  • Three by Three, & The Red Snow Suit – Choreography by Randee Paufvre (1997-98) Singing Myself a Lullaby – John Henry solo dance, Arizona, San Francisco, video (1995) Music for over 100 Audio Tour Tapes (1988 – present)
  • Water Workout – Produced by Excel Sports (1993), with Karen Andes
  • The Healing – Choreographer Ellen Bromberg(1993)
  • Music Director – Berkeley Shakespeare Festival (1988);
  • Deer Rose (1986)
  • Giants of the Sun – Morrison Planetarium, Academy of Sciences (1987)

Audio Tour Tapes

Each tour tape is musically interpreted for each object (painting, photography, sculpture, building), timed with narration, and composed in the appropriate ensemble, period and style.

  • A Gift to America: Masterpieces of European Painting from the Samuel H. Kress Collection – North Carolina Museum of Art (1994)
  • Abstraction in Question – Fine Arts Museum of Miami (1989)
  • Alexander the Great – Narrated by Patrick Stewart Florida International Museum (1996) American Discovery of Egypt – Los Angeles County Museum of Art (1995) and Houston Museum of Art (1996)
  • American Impressionism – Denver Art Museum (1994)
  • Anatomical Drawings of Leonardo Da Vinci – (1992) Ancient Americas:
  • The Art of Sacred Landscapes – Narrated by Raul Julia, Chicago Museum of Art (1992) Andrew Wyeth: Southeastern Collections – Jacksonville Art Museum (1992)
  • Angel Island Tour – The Angel Island Company (1994)
  • Art & Empire: Treasures from Assyria in the British Museum (1995)
  • Art Walk: A Moving Experience – St. Louis Art Museum (1991)
  • Aztec: The World of Moctezuma – Narrated by Edward James Olmos, Denver Museum of Natural History (1992) Bay Model – Sausalito, California (1989)
  • Bayou Bend – Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (1994)
  • Beyond the Java Sea: Art of Indonesia’s Outer Islands – San Francisco Art Museum (1991) Caillebotte – Chicago Art Institute (1995)
  • Carlsbad Caverns – New Mexico (1996)
  • Catherine the Great – Narrated by Lauren Bacall, Memphis International Cultural Center (1991)
  • Chagall – Los Angeles County Art Museum (1996)
  • Chicago Botanical Garden – (1991)
  • Chicago’s Dream: A World’s Treasure – Chicago Art Institute (1993)
  • Colombia – Museum of Mexico City (1994)
  • Corot To Monet: The Rise of Landscape Painting in France – Dallas Museum of Art (1991) Degas – Art Institute of Chicago (1996)
  • Degas Landscapes – Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (1994)
  • Degas to Matisse: The Wertheimer Collection – Los Angeles County Museum of Art (1993) Etruscans: Legacy of a Lost Civilization – Memphis Museum of Art (1992)
  • Fauve Landscape – Los Angeles County Museum of Art (1990)
  • Frank Lloyd Wright: In the Realm of Ideas – Marin Center Exhibit Hall & Scottsdale Arizona (1990-91)
  • Gates of Mystery – Brooks Museum, Memphis (1993)
  • Gauiguin and the School of Pont-Aven – Indianapolis Museum of Art (1994)
  • Geometric Abstraction- Fine Arts Museum of Miami (1989)
  • Georgia O Keeffe, 1887-1986- Los Angeles County Art Museum (1989)
  • Golden Age: Art and Society in Hungary 1896-1914 –
  • Fine Arts Museum of Miami (1990) Golden Gate Discovery Tour – Narrated by Scott Beach,
  • Golden Gate National Park (1991)
  • Great Smoky Mountains Newfound Gap Driving Tour – Virginia. (1992)
  • Highlights of the Permanent Collection – St. Louis Art Museum (1993)
  • Holograms: Images In Time And Space- San Jose & Fisherman’s Wharf (1988, 89) Howard Brothers Circus Tour – Knoxville Museum of Art (1992)
  • Hunt-Phelan House – Memphis (1996)
  • Imperial Austria: Treasures of Art, Arms and Armor from the State of Styria – Fine Arts Museum of Houston (1993)
  • Impressions of France: Monet, Renoir, & their Rivals – Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (1995)
  • John James Audubon: The Watercolors for the Birds of America – Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (1994)
  • J. Paul Getty Museum of Art – Los Angeles (1998)
  • Latin America: Art of the Fantastic – Fine Arts Museum of Miami (1988)
  • Life Through Time – California Academy of Sciences (1992)
  • Matisse – High Museum of Art, Atlanta (1996)
  • Meet Me At the Old Courthouse – Jefferson National Expansion Memorial, St. Louis (1994)
  • Mexican Modernism – San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (1996)
  • Mexico: Splendors of Thirty Centuries – Narrated by Edward James Olmos, Los Angles County Museum of Art (1992)
  • Mongolia: The Legacy of Chinggis Khan – Denver Art Museum (1995)
  • Moscow: Treasures and Traditions – Narrated by Meryl Streep.
  • Seattle Museum of Art (1990)
  • Motorola Museum of Electronics Audio Tour – (1992)
  • My Point of View: Moneta Sleet, Jr. – St. Louis Art Museum (1993)
  • Napoleon – Memphis Cook Convention Center (1993)
  • Newseum – Washington, D.C. narrated by Susan Stamberg (1996)
  • New York American Museum of Natural History Permanent Exhibit (1994)
  • Odilon Redon: Prince of Dreams – Chicago Art Institute (1994)
  • Operation Rescue: Varian Fry – Holocaust Museum, Washington, D.C. (1993)
  • Painters of the Great Ming Imperial Court and the Zhe School – Dallas Museum of Art (1993)
  • Path to Enlightenment: Travels of the Buddha – Kimball Art Museum (1996)
  • Phantom Canyon Driving Tour – (1996)
  • Picasso and the Weeping Women – Los Angeles County Museum of Art (1994)
  • Royal Tombs of Sipan – Museum of Fine Arts, Houston Narrated by Leonard Nimoy (1994) San Diego Gaslight Tour – (1993)
  • San Francisco Museum of Modern Art Permanent Exhibit (1994)
  • Sculpture of Indonesia – San Francisco Asian Art Museum (1992)
  • Seattle Museum: Near East Section – CD Rom (1994)
  • Smithsonian – National Air & Space Museum (1996)
  • Splendors of the Ottoman Sultans – Narrated by James Earl Jones, Memphis Cultural Museum (1992)
  • Tomb of Tutankhamun – Temple of Luxor, Las Vegas (1994)
  • Treasures of the Czars – Narrated by Cliff Robertson, Florida International Museum (1995) Treasures of St. Petersburg – Narrated by Charlton Heston, Rio Hotel, Las Vegas (1998) Treasures of the First Emperor of China – Narrated by Morgan Freeman Birmingham Museum of Art (1996)
  • Two Voices: Georgia O’Keeffe & Alfred Stieglitz – Houston Museum of Fine Arts (1993) Underwater World – Pier 39, San Francisco and Mall of the Americas, Minnesota (1996) Van Gogh to Matisse: Impressionist & Modern Masters from the Cone Collection – Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (1993)
  • Vatican Treasures: 2000 Years of Art and Culture in the Vatican and Italy – Colorado History Museum (1993)
  • Vitality of Vision: Hospitality House – Narrated by Danny Glover, Yerba Buena Museum of Art (1994)
  • William Paley Collection – Seattle Museum of Art (1992)
  • Wisdom and Compassion: The Sacred Art of Tibet – Narrated by Richard Gere, Asian Art Museum, San Francisco (1991)
  • Yama Mamo- 16th Century Japan – Memphis Museum of Art

My teachers: Lou Harrison was one of the great composers of the twentieth century–a pioneer in the use of alternate tunings, world music influences, and new instruments. Born in 1917 in Portland Oregon, he spent much of his youth moving around Northern California before settling in San Francisco. There he studied with the modernist pioneer of American Music, Henry Cowell, and, while still in his twenties, composed extensively for dance and percussion. He befriended another of Cowell’s students, John Cage, and the two of them established the first concert series devoted to new music for percussion. They composed extensively for these concerts, including their still popular collaboration Double Music. In 1942, Harrison moved to Los Angeles to study with the famous Arnold Schoenberg at UCLA.

Terrence Mitchell Riley (born June 24, 1935) is an American composer intrinsically associated with the minimalist school of Western classical music and was a pioneer of the movement. His work has been deeply influenced by both jazz and Indian classical music. Harold Budd’s career as a composer began in 1962. In the following years, he gained a notable reputation in the local avant-garde community. In 1966 he graduated from the University of Southern California (having studied under Ingolf Dahl) with a degree in musical composition. As he progressed, his compositions became increasingly minimal. Among his more experimental works were two drone music pieces, “Coeur d’Orr” and “The Oak of the Golden Dreams”. After composing a long-form gong solo titled “Lirio”, he felt he had reached the limits of his experiments in minimalism and the avant-garde. He retired temporarily from composition in 1970 and began a teaching career at the California Institute of the Arts.

James Tenney was a pianist, composer and teacher and a student of some of the Twentieth century’s greatest composers, among them Edgard Varèse, John Cage and Harry Partch. He was an early pioneer of computer-generated music, and of the application of information theory to the art of composition. For the last six years of his life, he taught composition at the California School for the Arts.

Morton Subotnick (born April 14, 1933, in Los Angeles, California) is an American composer of electronic music, best known for his Silver Apples of the Moon, the first electronic work commissioned by a record company, Nonesuch. He was one of the founding members of California Institute of the Arts where he taught for many years. Subotnick has worked extensively with interactive electronics and multi-media, co-founding the San Francisco Tape Music Center with Ramon Sender, and often collaborating with his wife Joan La Barbara. Morton Subotnick is one of the pioneers in the development of electronic music and multi-media performance and an innovator in works involving instruments and other media, including interactive computer music systems. Most of his music calls for a computer part, or live electronic processing; his oeuvre utilizes many of the important technological breakthroughs in the history of the genre.

Leonard Stein American musicologist. He studied music theory and composition with Schoenberg at the University of Southern California (1935-36) and at the University of California at Los Angeles (BA 1939, MM 1941, MA 1942); he was Schoenberg’s teaching assistant at the latter (1939-42) and his private assistant (1942-51). In 1965 he received the DMA from the University of Southern California with the dissertation “The Performance of Serial and Twelve-Tone Music for the Piano”. From 1946 he taught at institutions in California, and was adjunct professor at the School of Music at the University of Southern California in 1975. He was director of the Arnold Schoenberg Institute at the University of Southern California from 1975 until his retirement in 1991 and editor of its journal (1976-90).

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