Sergi Casanelles

Sergi Casanelles

Clinical Assistant Professor

Music and Performing Arts Professions

sergi.casanelles@nyu.edu
212-998-5764
Website

Sergi Casanelles is a Clinical Assistant Professor in the Screen Scoring program of the Department of Music and Performing Arts Professions at NYU Steinhardt. He holds a PhD and an MM in Music Composition: Screen Scoring from NYU, and a Bachelor's in Composition (EsMUC, Barcelona), Piano (Conservatory of Liceu, Barcelona), and Computer Science (UPC, Barcelona).

His research approach combines analysis of the praxis with theoretical models, focusing on the intersection between philosophy, technology, screen music aesthetics, and film language. His book, “The Hyperorchestra: Screen Music and Virtual Ensembles” (Palgrave, 2024), presents a comprehensive approach to his theory of the Hyperorchestra and its impact on contemporary screen music aesthetics. Other publications include book chapters, such as "Mixing as a Hyperorchestration Tool" in the Palgrave Handbook of Sound Design and Music in Screen Media: Integrated Soundtracks (2016), and the forthcoming "Atmospheres, Synths, and Spectral Transformations in Scores for TV" in the Oxford Handbook for Music and Television. As a composer and orchestrator, he has written works for piano, chamber ensembles, orchestra, electronics, and screen music.

He has won composition competitions such as the III Orchestral Composition Competition Evaristo Fernández Blanco. He was also the recipient of the La Caixa Fellowship Award for International Graduate Studies, the most prestigious award in Spain to pursue graduate studies in the US. Dr. Casanelles served as the Program Manager of the Screen Scoring Program at NYU, as well as an adjunct faculty member. Before that, he worked back in his hometown of Barcelona as a composer, manager of a music ensemble, and computer programmer at Justinmind.

Currently teaching:

MPATC-UE 1049 / MPATC-GE 2049 - Contemporary Scoring 

MPATC-UE 1248 - Composing for film and multimedia

MPATC-UE 1247 - Scoring Foundations: Harmony and Narrative

MPATC-GE 2043 Graduate Scoring Foundations

Courses Taught at NYU:

MPATC-UE 1500 - Film music: Historical and Aesthetic Perspectives

MPATC-GE 2550 Screen Music: History, Analysis, and Aesthetics

MPATC-UE 1021/ 2321 Private music composition lessons

MPATC-UE 1192 Music Composition Undergraduate Capstone

Selected Publications

[Forthcoming] "Atmospheres, Synths, and Spectral Transformations in Scores for TV."  In The Oxford Handbook of Music and Television (OHMTV), edited by James Deaville, Jessica Getman, and Ron Rodman. Oxford University Press.

The Hyperorchestra: Screen Music and Virtual Musical Ensembles (2024). Palgrave MacMillan.

Mixing as a Hyperorchestration tool (2016). Palgrave Handbook of Sound Design and Music in Screen Media: Integrated Soundtracks (eds) Liz Greene & Danijela Kulezic-Wilson, Palgrave Macmillan, Basingstoke.

Ph.D. Thesis: The Hyperorchestra: A Study of a Virtual Ensemble in Film Music that Transcends Reality (2015)

 

Conference presentations

The Hero’s Journey, the Legato, and the Performer Collaborator: examining the role of solo performers in Hans Zimmer’s scores. Music and the Moving Image, New York, June 2025.

Virtual Instruments, Interfaces, and the distributed role of music creation in Screen Music. Music and the Moving Image Conference (MaMI), May 2024.

The horror within: using the diegetic voice as the Seed for the Score for Men (2022). Music and the Moving Image Conference (MaMI), May 2023.

Spectral transformations and Synthesizers: Examining Mac Quayle’s music for Mr. Robot (2015-19). Scoring Peak TV Conference, July 2022.

When the Dialog is just a transaction: The Killing of a Sacred Deer (2017) and the integrated Soundtrack . Music and the Moving Image Conference (MaMI) June 2022.

Scoring Determinism: the score for Garland’s Devs (2020). Music and the Moving Image Conference (MaMI) June 2021.

Spectral transformation in drones as a harmonic device in Mr. Robot’s score. Music and the Moving Image Conference (MaMI) June 2020.

Unfolding complex movie worlds: the score for Annihilation (2018). Music and the Moving Image Conference (MaMI) June 2019.

Deciphering Timbre: a framework for analyzing contemporary screen music. Music and the Moving Image Conference (MaMI) June 2017. 

The Organ in Interstellar's Soundtrack: a case study for Analyzing the Role of Timbre in Contemporary screen music. Music and the Moving Image Conference 2016

Music in the Post-Narrative Film. Music and the Moving Image Conference 2015

Hyperorchestra, Hyperreality, and Inception. CUNY GS Conference 2014, Music and the Moving Image Conference 2014.

Beyond the Diegesis. Music and the Moving Image Conference 2013

Programs

Screen Scoring

Learn to write music for today’s media industry through rigorous course work, collaborations with schools throughout NYU, and recording opportunities.

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Courses

Composing for Film and Multimedia

Addressing the matrix of directorial vision and visual, narrative, and dramatic world of a film, this course will examine a broad range of musical approaches and those requirements necessary for composing music for film and multimedia. Cultural, cinematic, and musical codes will be discussed and critiqued through critical analyses of seminar scores, scoring assignments, and collaborative director/composer interactions.
Course #
MPATC-UE 1248
Credits
3
Department
Music and Performing Arts Professions

Contemporary Scoring Techniques

Immerses the student composer in creating music for a range of visual media including movies, shorts, television, and animation. Topics of inquiry include the visual, aural, narrative, textual and subtextual components of communication with moving images; the aesthetics, techniques and technicalities of spotting and synchronizing music; orchestration, both traditional and digital; production
and mixing; and compositional practices unique to the work of scoring for moving images. Weekly scoring assignments and in-class critiques.
Course #
MPATC-GE 2049
Credits
2 - 3
Department
Music and Performing Arts Professions

Contemporary Scoring: Creative & Technological Practices

This hands-on course will both sharpen a composer’s aesthetic & raise the level of proficiency in their use of an industry-standard complex of the software necessary for composing & producing in film and media production. In tandem with incorporating the ever-increasing quality & availability of digital audio production software, including virtual instruments, media composers will deliver the pristine, professional sounding music now expected for film, TV, video games, songs & even Broadway.
Course #
MPATC-UE 1049
Credits
2 - 3
Department
Music and Performing Arts Professions

Film Music: Historical Aesthetics/Perspectives

This course explores the aesthetics and history of music in cinema. Through examination of scenes from seminal films, assigned readings of historical texts, lectures, and class discussion, the course examines the history of cinema from the viewpoint of its music and provides students with the tools to cogently analyze music for cinema. During the class, students learn to apply historical, cultural, and semiotic analytical methods to unfold the cultural and artistic significance of a movie and its music. No prior training in music is required.
Course #
MPATC-UE 1500
Credits
2
Department
Music and Performing Arts Professions

Graduate Scoring Foundations: Harmony, Narrative, and Film Language

This course explores theoretical foundations along with current research essential for writing screen music. The class explores the application of harmonic theory for the screen, with special emphasis on the Neo-Riemannian theoretical framework, and provides the foundations of narrative theory, storytelling, and film language. Through theoretical readings, analyses, and practical assignments, students develop a strong understanding of the audiovisual medium and the myriad functions music has to engage and enhance storytelling.
Course #
MPATC-GE 2043
Credits
3
Department
Music and Performing Arts Professions

Screen Scoring Foundations: Harmony and Narrative

This course provides the theoretical foundations that serve as the building blocks for the music for the screen. Divided into two areas that eventually merge, the course explores the application of harmonic and melodic principles for screen music, as well as the study of the foundations of narrative theory and storytelling. Throughout a set of theoretical readings,analyses, and creative assignments, the students will develop a set of techniques to produce music that generates meaning and that enhances the story and the narrative as a whole.
Course #
MPATC-UE 1247
Credits
3
Department
Music and Performing Arts Professions