Bijan Olia is an Iranian-American composer, songwriter, loving husband, father, Red Sox fan, and amateur sauce sommelier. And while all these things make up Bijan’s true essence, you may be wondering: Where have I heard his music? What does Bijan’s music sound like? Or even, do I like him?
From the quirky bossa nova, jazz, and space pop in his score for Better Half to his funk and neo soul songs that were featured in Netflix’s Forever and Paramount Pictures’ 80 for Brady, Bijan blends emotion with his dramatic sensitivity to picture.
show moreSince moving to Los Angeles in 2013, his music has been heard on the Freeform TV Series Siren, Warner Brothers’ Lego DC Superheroes: Brain Drain, and the virtual reality video game Resident Evil VII Biohazard.
Beyond the screen, he’s collaborated with Grammy award-winning singer/songwriter J. Hoard, and co-founded Foam Collective, a songwriting and record production team. His strange infatuation with the toy piano and melodica inspired him to write Streicher, Tasti et Bizarreries, which has had performances at Under the Oaks and the K17 Concert Series.
In 2017, Bijan was one of six fellows selected for the Sundance Institute Composers Lab. And in 2023 he was chosen as a fellow for the Composer Filmmaker Accelerator at the Vancouver International Film Festival, where his music was recorded and performed by the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra. He is a 2024 Nominee for the Music + Sound Awards for best main title sequence for his work on Better Half.
Originally from Massachusetts, Bijan once dreamt of playing piano at Boston’s Symphony Hall. But cold winters and the lack of sunlight in practice rooms led him to major in composition and computer music at Baltimore’s Peabody Institute.
As an artist, Bijan hopes to lend himself creatively to a score, song or concert piece that allows the veil of the unseen to be lifted. He believes in the power of mentorship, giving credit when credit is due, and ending the notion of “no days off” as a badge of honor. He hopes to leave the world of composing for visual media in a better place for future generations.
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