With more than 200 of his original music compositions available on iTunes and 14 albums to his credit, Kerry Muzzey '92 will receive the Alumni Merit Award for his outstanding work in the field of music.
Originally from Joliet, Ill., Muzzey began studying classical organ at age 10 and began writing music the next year. After graduating from Millikin, he moved to New York in 1993 to begin an apprenticeship with the music director of the daytime drama, “One Life to Live,” while also working at the music publishing division of EMI Records as licensing coordinator. He left EMI in 1995 for a position with MTV Networks, where he worked for VH1 as the director of music and film clearance. In 2006, he made the leap to full-time composing, releasing several albums on iTunes and scoring documentaries for Discovery and the History Channel. In 2010, he moved to California, where he currently resides.
His musical compositions include:
- “Looking Back,” the recurring love theme used on the hit Fox-TV series, “Glee”
- “Bernini’s Angels,” performed by The LXD (The Legion of Extraordinary Dancers) on Fox’s “So You Think You Can Dance” in 2011, catapulting that piece to No. 1 on the Amazon classical chart and No. 2 on the iTunes classical chart
- “Architect of the Mind,” performed by the top 20 dancers during the 2012 season of “So You Think You Can Dance.” The song quickly climbed to No. 3 on Amazon’s classical chart.
- Title theme music for director Jon M. Chu’s new dance lifestyle channel series, “Master Class” and “Master Class: Legends” on DS2DIO.com
- Score for “A Holiday Engagement,” a 2011 Hallmark Channel movie starring Shelley Long
- Score for “What Happens Next,” a 2010 movie starring Wendie Malick
- Trailer music for all three seasons of Paramount Pictures’ “The LXD,” a series directed by Jon M. Chu, as well as scoring the premiere episode of season two of “The LXD.”
- Several instrumental cues for the Sundance documentary, “The Unforeseen,” produced by Robert Redford and Terrence Malick
- Score for “BearCity,” a movie that won L.A’s Outfest Grand Jury Award
- Score for “Hole in the Paper Sky,” a 2007 movie produced by Jessica Biel and starring Jessica Biel, Garry Marshall and Jason Clarke
- Score for “Amexicano,” a movie that premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2007
While living in New York, Muzzey provided tours of MTV Networks’ headquarters and a behind-the-scenes look into the music business for Millikin students visiting the city as a way of supporting his alma mater.
As a Millikin student, Muzzey participated in theatre productions, chorus, Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia and dance ensembles while earning his bachelor’s degree in music (piano) performance.