Student Spotlight: Sebastien Hollich The trombonist and film and media scoring major talks about finding mentors, writing for orchestra, and competing in the 2025 Red Bull Scoring Challenge.
By
Editorial Staff
October 1, 2025
Sebastien Hollich at the Red Bull Scoring Challenge in Vienna, Austria
Image by Joshua Cho
What's it like to study at Berklee? Our Student Spotlight series asks current students all about their Berklee experience-what they're learning in class, what kinds of projects they're involved in onstage or behind the scenes, how they recharge, and of course, what they're listening to. In this installment, get to know trombonist Sebastien Hollich, a fifth-semester film and media scoring major from West Lafayette, Indiana.
Sebastien was part of the 2025 Red Bull Scoring Challenge. You can follow him on Instagram, LinkedIn, and his website.
Tell us about your path to Berklee. What made you decide to come here?I've been absolutely obsessed with becoming a professional film composer since around the end of 9th grade (the beginning of quarantine). So, when it came time to search for colleges, I was really interested in finding somewhere that would offer a great film scoring program. There were a couple different schools I had in mind, but ultimately Berklee's program is one of the most substantial and successful in the country. And I'm so glad I made that decision because so far the experience has been incredibly fulfilling!
Whats been your favorite class so far, and what has it taught you?I have a couple, but I would say the favorite would have to be my Intro to Composition and Orchestration for Media Composers class, taught by Akram Haddad. Even though I had taught myself a lot about film scoring before getting to Berklee, Akram was able to expand my knowledge even further from what I had been able to do on my own. In a way, he has served as a mentor for me, and we've had some amazing one-on-one conversations about the industry, composition and orchestration techniques, sample library production, and so many other topics. I'm so grateful to have met him!
Whats a project youve worked on since coming to Berklee that youve been especially excited about?Hands down, the most exciting project has to be the 2025 Red Bull Scoring Challenge. I had the opportunity, along with nine other students from Berklee and the Vienna University of Music and Performing Arts, to have my music recorded and performed by the Synchron Orchestra at the amazing Synchron Stage in Vienna, Austria. Each of us got to write a hybrid cinematic cue for Red Bull, which were then orchestrated by world-class Hollywood orchestrators and recorded at the Synchron Stage, which is the studio responsible for recording the soundtracks for projects like Captain America: Brave New World, Guardians of the Galaxy, Mission: Impossible-Dead Reckoning, Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, Fortnite, Hawkeye, and so many other amazing projects. While writing this, I'm actually sitting in my hotel room in Vienna. I'm so grateful to all of the amazing people who helped with making this project a success, and I can't even begin to express how heartwarming this project has been. I feel like all of us have gotten so close and have had so much fun doing what we all love, making music. It is an experience that I will be dreaming about for years to come. Stay tuned for the album coming soon!
How do you typically recharge or find new ideas outside of class?I really enjoy going on walks around Boston. For me, it's a great way to just relax and enjoy the amazing atmosphere in Back Bay, especially when the weather is nice. I like to call myself a moody composer, meaning that in order for me to write a specific kind of cue, I have to be in a similar headspace. So, if I am wanting to write an action cue, I like to listen to music that gets me into that mindset, most likely something loud and with a lot of percussion or brass. I listen to soundtracks a lot, but I also listen to a solid amount of EDM and pop. Within those three genres, I can normally find something that will help me get into the mood I'm looking for.
When you think towards your own future, who inspires you most?It's a bit of a cheesy answer, but I'm inspired by all of the great film composers working in Hollywood today. I look up to all of them. I think each film composer has a unique voice that they use to tell stories, and I really hope to be able to tell similar stories using my own. Some of the most impactful composers for me have to be Lorne Balfe, Hans Zimmer, John Powell, Brian Tyler, Natalie Holt, and Ramin Djawadi, to name a few. Listening to the music that they all write on a regular basis is so inspiring, and when I watch the films or TV shows that correlate with that music, its even more inspiring, because now the full story and vision comes into view. Filmmaking is such a creative process, and the music for those projects can make all the difference. I only hope to make as much of a difference as they all have in my own career.
Whats one piece of advice youd give to your high school self?Always be grateful for the opportunities that come your way, and never be afraid to take them. You will never know unless you say yes and do it. Even if it's super scary, you have to say yes to those opportunities or they may never come around again. And never give up. Road blocks are part of the journey, and if you allow yourself to be intimidated by them, you'll end up regretting it in the end.
Sebastien Hollichs Top Five Film and Game ScoresEverything Is Connected, Lorne Balfe (from the series Genius)
On top of being a trombone player, I also play a lot of percussion! This track kind of tickles my brain because it's so rhythmic and it really demonstrates the power of simplicity.
Tick Tock,
Most recent headlines
11/12/2025
Dalet, a leading provider of cloud-native, end-to-end media workflow solutions, ...
20/11/2025
LONDON The winners of the Rise Awards 2025, which recognize women and companies whose achievements have stood out in the media technology industry, have been an...
20/11/2025
SANTA MONICA & NEW YORK Lionsgate's Worldwide Television Distribution Group and Debmar-Mercury have launched MovieSphere Gold in more than 30 million homes....
20/11/2025
ALAMEDA, Calif. Clear-Com has introduced its four-channel HelixNet beltpack, a next-generation advancement of its widely used two-channel model, and anticipates...
20/11/2025
NEW PROVIDENCE, N.J. Streaming technology and services provider Kiswe has launched Kiswe Core, a next-generation cloud-based platform designed to simplify the s...
20/11/2025
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. Dolby Laboratories has signed on as an official signature partner of the Bay Area Host Committee (BAHC) for the 2026 Super Bowl and the we...
20/11/2025
STUTTGART, Germany 3 Screen Solutions (3SS) has announced that the Canadian multiservice operator Telus has launched its Telus TV+ entertainment platform on Sam...
20/11/2025
Major League Baseball has announced deals with ESPN, NBCUniversal and Netflix covering 2026-2028 that make ESPN the exclusive rightsholder of MLB.TV, see regula...
20/11/2025
Berklee Presents Holiday Extravaganza: Duke Ellingtons The Nutcracker Suite and ...
19/11/2025
Sphere Sound Kicks Up Its Heels at Radio City Music HallUltra-immersive system from the singular Las Vegas venue is also ready for sportsBy Dan Daley, Audio Edi...
19/11/2025
The Future of Stadium and Arena Video Control Rooms: Tech Leaders Talk 4K, IP, a...
19/11/2025
One Year at Intuit Dome: Walking Through the Stunning Arena's Advanced Video...
19/11/2025
SVG Sit-Down: IMG's Francois Westcombe Goes Inside IMG's Annual Digital ...
19/11/2025
Inside Brighton & Hove Albion's fan-first media machine By George Bevir
Tuesday, November 18, 2025 - 10:10
Print This Story
Brighton & Hove Albion'...
19/11/2025
Rock Chalk Rebuild, Part 1: Kansas Athletics Brings New Production Power to Rebu...
19/11/2025
Rock Chalk Rebuild, Part 2: A Pro's Guide to Kansas Athletics' New Video...
19/11/2025
MLB Media Rights Shakeup: NBC Inks Three-Year Deal for Sunday Night Baseball, Pe...
19/11/2025
Rohan Parashuram Kanawade attends the premiere of Sabar Bonda (Cactus Pears) at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival at Egyptian Theatre on January 26, 2025, in Pa...
19/11/2025
Awards season is heating up, and the International Documentary Association just ...
19/11/2025
Aerojet Rocketdyne President Ken Bedingfield and Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders were joined by state and local officials to celebrate the groundbreaking o...
19/11/2025
L3Harris and PentenAmio formalise their teaming agreement at MilCIS 2025, streng...
19/11/2025
Calrec gives Phoenix Broadcast Solutions its full support in strategic multi-year enterprise partnership New Singapore OB company invests in Calrec technology f...
19/11/2025
October brings a larger audience in front of TV screens. The cooler autumn weather and the continuation of new programming schedules brought increases in both t...
19/11/2025
IRVING, Texas Nexstar Media Group and Tegna filed applications on Nov. 18 with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) seeking its consent to transfer broad...
19/11/2025
Vitec has acquired Datapath, a developer of real-time video processing for large-scale video walls, AVoIP content distribution and KVM control in mission-critic...
19/11/2025
NEVADA CITY, Calif. Telestream has introduced ARGUS Version 2.3, which introduces Live Look, a feature that lets operators inspect live and on-demand streams vi...
19/11/2025
STAMFORD, Conn. and NEW YORK Charter Communications, Inc. has announced a major deal with Amazon Web Services (AWS) that establishes AWS as one of Charters stra...
19/11/2025
TOKYO Atomos has announced a major firmware update that brings integrated camera control to the Ninja TX GO and Ninja TX its new CFexpress-based monitor-recor...
19/11/2025
Berklee's Signature Series Reimagines the Musical and Visual Artistry of Col...
19/11/2025
PlayBox Neo departed the NAB Show New York 2025 on a high note. The company's all-new PlayBox Neo Suite made a splash on the show floor, drawing strong inte...
19/11/2025
AAVBR (American Audio Visual Baton Rouge), a leading full-service event production company serving Louisiana and the Gulf Coast region, has enhanced its product...
19/11/2025
In its mission to deliver live event services combining advanced engineering with a creative approach to captivating live sports and entertainment experiences, ...
19/11/2025
NEW YORK Short-form vertical video has exploded across platforms like TikTok, Instagram and YouTube, but a new survey commissioned by Media.net, a provider of c...
19/11/2025
NEW YORK YES Network, the regional sports network home of the New York Yankees and Brooklyn Nets, and CAMB.AI have struck a partnership they said will leverage ...
19/11/2025
WASHINGTON The Federal Communications Commission has issued detailed guidance on filings that were disrupted by the government shutdown. While many of those fil...
19/11/2025
NEW YORK The popularity of NFL games is largely responsible for continued seasonal momentum in TV viewership into October (measured Sept. 29-Oct. 26), according...
19/11/2025
DirecTV has announced that its MyFree DirecTV streaming service has added seven new channels. Those include four sports services, NBA FAST, Red Bull TV, DAZN Ri...
19/11/2025
SURREY, U.K. Mark Roberts Motion Control (MRMC) has launched Flair Bridge, a compact device that transforms how operators control the company's motion-contr...
19/11/2025
WASHINGTON The Federal Communications Commission, which is continuing to rapidly ramp up its operations after the end of the federal government shutdown, has se...
19/11/2025
IRVING, Texas Nexstar Media Group and Tegna filed applications on Nov. 18 with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) seeking its consent to transfer broad...
19/11/2025
Martin Freeman, Jessie Buckley, Wu-Tang Clan's Raekwon, Eddie the Eagle and ...
19/11/2025
Rohde & Schwarz collaborates with Broadcom to enable testing and validation of n...
19/11/2025
Back to All News
Innato, starring Imanol Arias and Elena Anaya, arrives on Netf...
19/11/2025
Back to All News
Guillermo del Toro Sits Down With Troll 2 Director Roar Uthaug...
19/11/2025
Some projects feel monumental from the moment the first phone call comes in. When BCE, the host broadcaster appointed to coordinate the national coverage, asked...
19/11/2025
November 19 2025, 08:00 (PST) BAY AREA HOST COMMITTEE AND DOLBY PARTNER TO DELIVER IMMERSIVE FAN EXPERIENCES
During the Week of Football's Biggest Game...
19/11/2025
Michael D. Higgins: Ireland's Ninth President features RT Archives footage and interviews across seven decades
Watch Wednesday 19 November at 9:35pm on RT...
19/11/2025
Scripps Research scientists receive $1.1 million to advance AI modeling for HIV vaccine development New AI system helps scientists rapidly pinpoint the most pro...
18/11/2025
Independent media across Central America are operating under intensifying financial pressure, yet there is a clear appetite for models that can sustain both ind...
Student Spotlight: Sebastien Hollich The trombonist and film and media scoring major talks about finding mentors, writing for orchestra, and competing in the 2025 Red Bull Scoring Challenge.
