Rising Stars: Meet Andre Madatian

Today we’d like to introduce you to Andre Madatian. Them and their team share their story with us below:

Andre Madatian first picked up his father’s guitar at the age of ten years old and soon after learned that music would become his biggest passion in this world. At the young age of twelve, Andre formed a trio pop/rock band with two of his best friends.

The trio began to play extensively and by the time high school came, the group had already played for numerous weddings, won several “Battle of the Bands” competitions with much older competitors, and were featured on Channel 3 CBS news with a live performance and interview.

Andre decided to further his studies in music by attending the prestigious Berklee College of Music in Boston, MA in the fall of 2010 where he studied privately with many notable guitarists and composers. As a guitarist, Andre has studied with Tomo Fujita, whose former students include John Mayer and Eric Krasno of Soulive and Lettuce. Other teachers include Sal Difusco of the Sal Difusco Project, John Baboian of the Bebop Guitars, David Fiuczynski of the Screaming Headless Torsos, and guitarist for Jazz Pianist prodigy, Hiromi Uehara. Andre holds a bachelor’s Degree in Film Scoring with a minor in Contemporary Conducting.

He has become inspired by film music to pursue a career in composition and has written many orchestral and concert works including an original string orchestra piece entitled “Obliquity for String Orchestra” for the renowned Kallistos Chamber Orchestra in Boston, MA. Andre continued with his education by receiving a Master of Music in Composition from Middle Tennessee State University. While at MTSU, Andre studied music composition privately under the direction of Dr. Paul Osterfield.

Aside from composing music, Andre performed extensively in the Boston area. He was the guitarist for the worship band at Mars Hill Fellowship, sang in a vocal jazz Capella group at Berklee called “Point of Departure”, and was in a barbershop quartet group known as “Back Bay Barbershop”. In April 2014, Andre had the opportunity to sing as a supporting baritone vocalist for the “Loft Sessions” which was conducted by Keith Lockhart, principal conductor of the Boston Symphony Orchestra and Boston Pops at the world-renowned Symphony Hall in Boston, MA. Between the summer of 2014 to the summer of 2015, Andre was a showband guitarist for Carnival Cruise Lines where he performed six nights a week all while traveling the world. He has worked onboard the Carnival Magic, the Carnival Imagination, and the Carnival Ecstasy under the representation of an agency company known as Landau Music based in Solana Beach, California. In the summer of 2013, Andre could have been found playing guitar for the country’s largest amusement park known as Cedar Point in Sandusky, Ohio for the summer season under Cedar Fair Entertainment.

Andre currently resides in Nashville, Tennessee, and works as a freelance composer and touring guitarist. He is an active member of the “Nashville Composer Collective” comprised of thirty current members ranging from university professors to Grammy award-winning composers and musicians. Other members include Jeff Coffin (Dave Matthews Band, Bela Fleck & The Flecktones) and Roy Wooten (Bela Fleck & The Flecktones). With the NCC, Andre has composed an original holiday-inspired piece entitled “Taking Flight (On This Christmas Night)” for the Nashville Philharmonic Orchestra as a portion of their 2018 Winter Concert Series, a duo piece for flute and piano entitled “Joodik (A Song for Alice)” at Belmont University’s intimate Asaph’s Chamber, a piece entitled “Lucine For String Quintet” premiering at Rudy’s Jazz Room, a piece for solo jazz piano entitled “Une Nuit de Reflets” premiering at Bennett Galleries in Nashville, and a piece for wind quartet entitled “Fools Paradise” and a solo piano piece for piano entitled “Dreamscapes and Desires” at Franklin First United Methodist Church in Franklin, Tennessee.

Andre works with several major music licensing companies with over 100 placements on 11 national television shows. Andre’s most recent composition credits include writing additional music cues for the NBC hit show, “America’s Got Talent”, “Black Ink Crew” on VH1, “Return to Amish” on TLC, the “PGA Tour Championships Learning Center” show on the Golf Channel owned by the NBC Sports Group subsidiary of NBCUniversal division of Comcast, “Say Yes to The Dress Atlanta: Season 9” on TLC, additional music cues for “Southern Charm: Season 3” on Bravo, additional music on “NFL Monday QB” on CBS Sports, additional music for “Jim and Chrissy: Vow or Never” on WE TV, additional music for “For My Man” on TV One, additional music for “Married to Medicine” on Bravo, and additional music for “The Book of John Gray” on the Oprah Winfrey Network to name a few.

Andre is also an active guitarist in Nashville where he continues to tour often. He has toured with numerous Nashville-based artists and to date has performed over 450 concerts in 6 countries. Notable performances include headlining the Albisgüetli Country Music Festival in Zurich, Switzerland, performing at the 25th Annual Trucker’s Festival in Interlaken, Switzerland along with The Bellamy Brothers, Kris Kristofferson, and Carlene Carter, Freedom Hall Arena in Louisville, Kentucky, performing at the Country Music Cruise in Ancona, Italy, and performing for over 15,000 people at the Havelock Country Music Jamboree in Ontario, Canada opening for major artists such as Toby Keith.

Andre has recently toured as the lead guitarist for John Schneider; the American actor, singer, and filmmaker is widely known for his role as “Bo Duke” in the original “Dukes Of Hazzard” television show. Notable performances include the Franklin Theater, Dosey Doe in Spring, Texas, the Strand Theater, the Manship Theater, the Cailloux Theater, and “Bo’s Extravaganza” featuring Kid Rock at John Schneider Studios in Holden, Louisiana performing with John Schneider, Keith Burns of “Trick Pony” and Grammy award-winning Cajon accordionist, Jo-El Sonnier.

Andre is also an active music educator in the Middle Tennessee area. Andre is an adjunct professor at Tennessee State University and Middle Tennessee State University, where he teaches a variety of music courses from arranging to music appreciation to directing a commercial music ensemble.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
My journey has not always been a smooth road. After my undergraduate studies at Berklee, I landed an internship with a high-profile Hollywood composer as a composer’s assistant in Los Angeles. This was exciting as I had just graduated with a film scoring degree and was eager to get my foot in the door. Unfortunately, things began to crumble with the opportunity. It was an unpaid internship and offered school credit only. At that point, I had already graduated so I was not in need of the school credit. In order to advance with the opportunity, I would have to re-enroll back in school just to receive the credits that I didn’t even need.

Additionally, the internship did not fulfill the requirements needed for the course that I would need to enroll in, therefore, I was told I could complete the internship, however, regardless of my performance, I would still receive a grade of an “F”. The added fuel to the fire, finding affordable housing in Los Angeles was nearly impossible and therefore, I decided to opt out of the internship. It truly broke my heart and led me to wonder where the next step in my career would be.

I remembered visiting Nashville during the yearly spring trip that Berklee offers. I remember loving the laid-back yet vibrant “vibe” of the city. At the time, like many others, I made the assumption that Nashville was only for country musicians, and growing up as a rock aficionado, I never thought about moving to Nashville.

I decided to “just go for it” to see what happens. Moving to Nashville in 2016 ended up becoming the best thing that could have happened for me. I met my wife, and some of my best friends, and have made advancements and connections in my career that I once dreamed of.

All is going well until the 2020 Covid-19 pandemic. Like many musicians, I was severely affected by the pandemic. As a musician, I lost countless gigs and found myself with little to no work. It was a dark time, however, I remembered that my parents instilled in me to always be “versatile” and to have knowledge in several aspects of the music industry.

Since live performance was out of the question, I was able to fall back on some of my other musical passions such as writing for film, tv, online teaching, arranging projects, remote recording, and mixing projects, to name a few. This time of reflection and change proved to me that it is essential to be a versatile musician and to explore several aspects of the music industry as opposed to just one.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I pride myself on being a versatile musician, not just in the style of music that I play, but also in several career explorations within the music industry. For example, I consider myself to be a guitarist, composer, and educator. These three aspects give me the most joy and I have found that I need to balance all three of these professions to be musically satisfied.

As a guitarist, it has been a pleasure to tour with a plethora of Nashville artists including John Schneider, Keith Anderson, JD Shelburne, Keith Burns, Christian Davis, Tobi Lee, Jo-El Sonnier, and others,

As a composer, I have worked with several independent directors and have scored films in the southern region. I also compose custom music for music licensing companies. I currently have over 100 original cue placements on various major national television networks including NBC, CBS Sports, Bravo, TLC, and Oprah Winfrey Network to name a few. I also compose concert music and have had several world premiers with the Nashville Philharmonic Orchestra, Kallistos Chamber Orchestra, and performers in connection with the Nashville Composer Collective, of which I am a member. My most proud work is an orchestral-hybrid piece entitled, “Purity of Mind”, featuring musicians from Nashville to Russia. It can be streamed here: https://open.spotify.com/track/14GD5hRHuqRkDpyxlI7tOJ?si=6f67583411ac44ae

As an educator, I have taught private lessons for 15 years and am currently one of roughly 20 music mentors worldwide for the online music education company known as “Soundfly” based in New York City. With Soundfly, I mentor music learners around the globe in several courses such as “The Creative Power of Advanced Harmony”, “Introduction to the Composer’s Craft”, and “Unlocking the Emotional Power of Chords”. I have also taught “Film Scoring Basics” in association with Nashville Community Education. The course is designed for composers of all abilities with little or no knowledge of scoring to picture and multi-media and specializes in distinct orchestration and compositional techniques that enable composers to write specifically or post-production projects.

I am currently an active music educator in the Middle Tennessee area. I am an adjunct professor at Tennessee State University and Middle Tennessee State University, where I teach a variety of music courses from arranging to music appreciation to directing a commercial music ensemble.

“I believe that being a versatile musician and wearing many musical hats is essential in the music industry today. The more skills we learn and adapt as musicians can lead to even more opportunities to grow both professionally and musically.” -Andre Madatian

What has been the most important lesson you’ve learned along your journey?
Again, to be a versatile musician. Explore more than just one avenue of the music industry. If you’re a great performer, try songwriting, as well. If you’re a talented educator, try mixing and composing too. The more knowledge we have as creatives and artists, the more opportunities we will encounter and feel prepared for.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.andremadatian.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/andremadatian/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/andremadatianmusic/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5NQXsS67LduIXFsgh7ok6Q/videos?view=0
• SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/andre-madatian