Keeping Composed Through Adversity – An Interview With Ros Gilman

Classically trained composer, conductor, music producer and musician, Ros Gilman began his musical training at the age of five as a violinist, when he was admitted at the prestigious Gnessin School of Music for the musically in Moscow, continuing his studies at the University of Music in Munich, Germany and the David Oistrakh-Academy during his teenage years. During that time, the Russian-born prodigy won multiple awards as a violinist and performed as a soloist with orchestras like the Georgian Chamber Orchestra, chaired by star-violinist Liana Issakadze.

Ros later went on to study at the world-famous University of Music and Performing Arts, Vienna, where he was taught by a number of internationally acclaimed violinists including Dora Schwarzberg, Herman Krebbers, Roman Nodel, and Alexander Arenkow. With his piano trio and the Fidelio-Quartet, Ros performed across three continents, as well as on national TV and national radio. With this ensemble he studied with outstanding musicians like maestro Mstislav Rostropovich, the Amadeus-Quartet, and the Janacek-Quartet. Ros also became second leader of the European Philharmonic Orchestra, performed at renown venues such as the Musikverein Vienna and worked with noted conductors such as Yakov Kreizberg.

Ros was forced to give up his promising violin career following a hand injury, prompting a shift in professional focus from concert violin to composition and conducting. He went on to study Classical Composition, Composition for Screen and Jazz Composition at the University of Music and Performing Arts, Vienna and the Royal College of Music London. His composition teachers include Israeli composer (and Walter Bigelow Rosen Professor of Music at Harvard University) Chaya Czernowin, British electroacoustic composer Michael Oliva and Austrian Jazz composer Christian Mühlbacher.

Ros’ music was premiered at renowned venues, such as the Konzerthaus Vienna, and as a conductor Ros has worked with the Macedonian Symphonic Orchestra, the Prague Metropolitan Orchestra, The Nouvelle Cuisine Big Band and various others.

Ros’ most recent composer credits include the HBO Asia Original series Folklore (season 2, episode “Grandma’s Kiss”), for which Ros also recorded all violin solos himself. He has also scored two prime-time TV documentaries (ARTE and France 5), worked on several TV show episodes (ORF’s Newton, G4’s Proving Ground), composed additional music for two theatrical feature films, a host of short films as well as adverts.

Ros also produced the orchestrations for seven prime-time feature films (ZDF) as well as several TV show episodes (ARD). For his work, Ros received various awards and nominations, such as the Audience Award for Best Music at the “British Animation Film Festival” or the nomination for Best Original Score at the “International Samobor Film Music Festival” and has been selected for BAFTA’s emerging talent program BAFTA Crew for four consecutive years since 2017.

Ros’ music has enjoyed wide success on streaming platforms, receiving editorial placements on Spotify and Apple Music and reaching over 9 million streams in June 2022, and his releases have been repeatedly playlisted on national radio (BBC 4 Radio and BBC 3 Classic Radio) enjoying considerable support from the press (BBC Music Magazine, Newsquest Times Series, Arts Professional).

Ros’ social media following has grown to a combined strength of 32k across his main platforms and as a social media influencer he has collaborated with brands such as Disney Plus and Fairtrade.

In 2015, Ros graduated from the diploma program in music business (MMBE) at the London School of Sound. Shortly after he was admitted into the business program of NWES, where he was mentored by former Sony BMG Marketing Director Jeff Gilbert. Ros also completed the MPA/MMF ‘Professional Development Programme in Music Publishing’. In 2017 Ros set up GuiRo Music Ltd, where he serves as managing director.

We managed to catch up with Ros to talk about his journey through music, songwriting process a. Check out the video below.. and yes, apologies for the technical faux-pas with camera positioning!