Category: Camp Update

It’s no surprise that Tyler Maxey is a composer/arranger who specializes in film music, concert music, and the creation of custom-arranged scores for marching and pep bands. He’s a Heights grad.

We are thrilled Tyler has joined our music program, HMSS Film Scores as the music instructor to teach CHUH middle schoolers how to create, write and produce original music for the films of Heights Middle School Shorts beginning February 27-March 20. To apply, click here. Space is limited

Tyler believes that music in films should create a unique and captivating auditory experience that enhances visual storytelling. That’s why his music covers a wide range of genres and styles to create a musical soundscape that draws in the audience and creates a robust emotional backdrop that enhances the drama and adds a new level of immersion to the film. His concert pieces and other original compositions seek to explore melody, harmony, texture, and rhythm in a way that allows listeners to engage with the music and see the world through his unique perspective.

Over the last year, Tyler composed the music for the short film The Baby Doll Dance which was featured at Cleveland State University’s annual student film showcase and the Youngstown Film Festival, where it was nominated for “Best Area Film.” He was also commissioned by the Notre Dame College Wind Symphony to compose a piece for Wind Band and Visual Media entitled TBD and to compose several marching band arrangements for South Central High School and Brecksville-Broadview High School.

When he’s not composing music, Tyler works as a Low Brass Instructor – his primary focus is trombone and euphonium – and has worked with the Rainey Institute as a teaching artist in their newly launched Cinemusic summer program for elementary-aged Tremont kids, where he taught the art of film scoring and created a final project showcased at the end of camp.

A Cleveland native, Tyler graduated from Cleveland Heights High School in 2014. He earned his undergraduate degree in Music Entrepreneurship at Notre Dame College in 2021. Currently, he is pursuing a Master’s Degree in Music Composition at Cleveland State University where he works as a graduate assistant in the composition department, and expects to graduate in May 2024.

After a two-year hiatus, Antonio Harper – one of our original HMSS Film Instructors and a Heights High School alum – has returned!

Antonio is a bright young filmmaker who left Cleveland Heights in 2022 with his partner Abby to pursue his dream in Los Angeles, California. But he always stayed in touch: as a virtual drop-in at Heights Middle School Shorts, as our film editor where – from the other side of the country – he edited HMSS films while teaching campers about the art of montage, and more.

But this year it’s different. Antonio will be ‘on location’ in the Heights, every day for the two weeks of in-person camp from June 3-14: filming, producing, editing, and adding original music created by students in our new program, HMSS Film Scores, to the films of Heights Middle School Shorts. He’ll also join us for this year’s screening, which will be held on Sunday, June 16 at the Cedar Lee Theatre.

We’re thrilled that Antonio will be back in the Heights with HMSS this year. He’s a real rising star of the film industry: dedicated and hard-working, he spent time as Production Coordinator for the Greater Cleveland Film Commission and on a variety of films shot in Cleveland before heading West, including Yann Demange’s White Boy Rick. On Demange’s set, Antonio was hired to shadow the director but was quickly promoted to Production Assistant, then again to Casting Coordinator, all within mere weeks.

Antonio is one-half of a writing-directing duo with his partner Abby Burton; they’ve made a number of successful short films, including Bush (shot in 16 mm), Panic in Valley City, and Altruist, all of which were selected for screening at numerous festivals around the country, including the Oscar-qualifying Cleveland International Film Festival. Through their company West 10G Productions they have several new projects slated this year for both television and film under their directing flagship Abbio Film.