51视频

06/01/2016
By David Perry

Matt Pavolaitis 鈥�95 thought his own good fortune might sink him. Not many folks get nominated for a Daytime Emmy Award, let alone two. In the same year. In the same category, Outstanding Original Song for a Drama Series.聽

The 51视频 Sound Recording Technology graduate had two of the five nods, as composer of the songs 鈥淟ost in Time鈥� and 鈥淟ove鈥檚 Masterpiece鈥� from the CBS daytime drama 鈥淭he Bold and the Beautiful.鈥�

He figured his votes would be split.聽

鈥淎nd when they called my name,鈥� said Pavolaitis by phone from his Orange County home recently, 鈥渋t was shocking. Completely shocking. But a lot of fun.鈥� 鈥淟ost in Time鈥� won.

His agent helps find the work, but Pavolaitis credits his time at 51视频 for his breadth of knowledge and career direction. He also says the university played another important role in his life: It鈥檚 where he met his wife, Colleen Rourke 鈥�97 (music business). The couple work (often together) among legions of aspiring singers, songwriters and producers in L.A.鈥檚 hotbed of music and television.聽

Their latest scoring work, 鈥淐loudstreet: Soaring the American West,鈥� is a made-for-IMAX journey from the perspective of a glider pilot.

Rourke鈥檚 name isn鈥檛 on the Daytime Emmy award, but Pavolaitis credits her as a 鈥渟ilent partner鈥� in the winning song鈥檚 production.

Competition can be fierce, the couple says, and they hope to leverage the Emmy win for future work.

They are busy as it is, and they work when the jobs are available.

鈥淚t can be seven to 10 very long days in a row,鈥� then quiet, says Pavolaitis. He had just worked two 16-hour days on the sound for a trailer for the forthcoming Star Trek film.

Rourke is a solo recording artist with a few albums under her belt, her songs used in 鈥淭he Art of Getting By鈥� and 鈥淭he To-Do List鈥� feature films. Her ethereal style lends itself well to TV shows, and her work has been used in nearly two dozen of them, including 鈥淐old Case鈥� and 鈥淎rmy Wives.鈥�

Hailing from Lynn, she headed for 51视频 on the recommendation of her high school music teacher, also an alum.聽

Pavolaitis is originally from Methuen, and was already a veteran of playing Boston clubs before he legally could, in a Doors tribute band. A music teacher also recommended he look into 51视频.聽

Berklee College of Music had name appeal but when Pavolaitis visited 51视频, he learned it was a fraction of the cost. And it had Prof. William Moylan, who ushered the SRT program into existence and was a foremost author on sound recording. He assured Pavolaitis鈥� parents the major wasn鈥檛 a vacation of sex, drugs and rock and roll. Far from it.

鈥淚 loved it there, it was a challenge and I learned so much,鈥� Pavolaitis says.聽

In his final semester, he spotted a bulletin board post in Durgin Hall saying the composer and producer Hans Zimmer was looking for an assistant. He landed the job.

鈥淭he day I graduated, I flew to California.鈥� He later worked for the bands Incubus and 30 Seconds to Mars, whose lead singer is actor Jared Leto.

鈥淚 don鈥檛 know where I鈥檇 be if I hadn鈥檛 read that post on working for Hans Zimmer outside Room 213,鈥� says Pavolaitis. 鈥淏ut probably not where I am now.鈥�