I am a composer and music theorist whose research focuses on film music, in particular the work of John Williams and Bernard Herrmann. My articles on film music have appeared in The Musical Quarterly, Music&Letters, Popular Music History, and The Journal of Film Music, and I have contributed chapters to The Palgrave Handbook for Music in Comedy Cinema, The Routledge Companion to Screen Music, and John Williams: Music for Films, Television, and the Concert Stage. I currently serve on the editorial board of The Journal of Film Music. 

In addition to my analytical work, I have written orchestral, chamber, and solo pieces, along with music for short films and theatre productions. My concert music has been performed by pianists Xak Bjerken, Frédéric Lacroix, and Thomas Hoppe, soprano Judith Kellock, conductors Johannes Müller-Stosch, Cayenna Ponchione, and Jonathan Schiffman, and ensembles including the Buffalo Philharmonic, the New Amsterdam Symphony Orchestra, and eighth blackbird.

I have taught music history and theory at Cornell University and Ithaca College as well as composition at the Eastman School of Music. My doctoral degree is from Cornell University, where I studied composition with Steven Stucky and musicology with David Rosen. Other formative mentors include Ricardo Zohn-Muldoon, George Tsontakis, and Steve Rouse in composition and Karen Henson, Nicholas Marston, and Steven Cahn in musicology and music theory.

While composition and musical analysis engage different parts of the mind, I have found them to be mutually enriching. On this website I have compiled my work in both domains and hope you find something of interest. If you have comments or questions, please contact me at tomschnellermusic@gmail.com