Born in Istanbul, Turkey, Emir Isilay now resides in Los Angeles, where he is a composer, pianist,  producer, arranger and engineer. He has composed music for many movies and TV shows appearing   on SyFy, WB, Lifetime, Hallmark, Starz, and others. He has scored numerous independent films, and   his score for “The Crimson Mask” was nominated for Best Original Score at the Los Angeles Reel Film   Festival. Emir also placed original songs in "Hangover Part II” (Warner Bros.) and “Kung Fu Panda:   Holiday Special” (Dreamworks). He recently finished writing the score for the movie “Concerto”   featuring Jackson Rathbone (Twilight) and Janel Parrish (Pretty Little Liars).  

 

Earlier in his career, Emir worked with the Media Ventures team, home of the legendary film composer   Hans Zimmer. There he worked and performed extensively with renowned composer and guitarist   Heitor Pereira on “Curious George” (Universal), “Ask The Dust” (Paramount), “Haven” (Yari Film Group),   “Two Weeks” (MGM) and “Dirty Dancing 2 Havana Nights” (Miramax). Emir has also worked as a pianist,   arranger, orchestrator, engineer, and also wrote additional music with film and TV composer Philip   Giffin on a wide variety of projects, including FOX’s “K-Ville”, NBC’s “Boomtown”, ABC’s “Eyes” and the   MGM feature “Soul Plane."

 

Emir was awarded a Bachelor’s Degree in Jazz Composition and Film Scoring at the world-renowned   Berklee College of Music in 2002, where he received best jazz composition and best film scoring student   awards. He was also selected as one of the best pianists at Berklee. His arrangements are still being   taught in Berklee Professor Ted Pease’s jazz composition book worldwide. Emir also represented the   school on a ten-day concert tour of three cities in Japan in 2002.  

 

Prior to attending Berklee, and while working and studying with internationally celebrated Turkish jazz   musician Aydin Esen, Emir won 1st place in the Istek Vakfi Music Event in 1996; 1st place in the Istanbul   Halici Midi Contest in 1997 and 2nd place in 1996; and 1st place in the Roxy Music Days Competition in   1996.