“How do you become a composer?” This is the question John Cameron posed at the start of the June 25 masterclass dedicated to his over 60-year career as a composer and musician. 

Cameron has dipped his toes into all facets of the music-making process over the course of his career, which began following his graduation from the University of Cambridge in the 1960s. In the decades since, Cameron has done everything from directing pantomimes to arranging internationally acclaimed pop, rock, and funk albums; forming his own successful band; orchestrating musicals like the long-beloved Les Misérables; and conducting the London Symphony Orchestra. 

Cameron’s presentation was delivered with the zest and wit one might expect from a former Cambridge Footlighter. As he retraced the steps he took at different moments and for very different projects, he emphasized the importance of just saying yes when opportunities to try something new arise. 

1967 presented precisely one such “say yes moment” when Cameron was asked by famed folk musician Donovan to write the score for Ken Loach’s film Poor Cow. This marked Cameron’s first foray into film scores and the beginning of many decades of scoring for film and television. Cameron collaborated with Loach again for the 1969 film Kes, which would go on to become an icon of British cinema. “Never say no,” Cameron reiterated as he recalled the initially curious invitation to collaborate on a project called Les Misérables in France in 1979. His work for the musical has contributed to some of the most recognizable tunes in the history of musical theatre. 

Summarizing the wisdom of his longstanding career in music, Cameron offered several pieces of core advice for those looking to foray into this field and write scores: establish a rapport with the director, understand how the movie needs to feel, choose a palette of instruments and “only stray from that palette when the plot dictates,” spot the film and keep aspects like dialogue in mind, and be flexible in making changes when they are necessary to support the film’s vision and plot. And, above all, say yes. 

- Alexandra Rongione