Family Guy composer Ron Jones (right) with SOCAN member Graeme Coleman (left) at the SOCAN-sponsored Screen Composers Guild of Canada (SCGC) seminar "An Evening with Ron Jones." (Photo: Sara Pavilionis)

Family Guy composer Ron Jones shared his insights into the creative process of composing for broadcast, during a SOCAN-sponsored Screen Composers Guild of Canada (SCGC) seminar held Feb. 11, 2011, at UBC Robson Square Theatre in Vancouver.

Jones is one of two main composers (along with Walter Murphy) on the popular, daring and long-running series, and each episode is a major writing assignment for him, with an orchestral recording session every week. In the course of "An Evening with Ron Jones," he presented clips from Family Guy, both with and without music, and clips of himself conducting the orchestra for the show. In an informative and entertaining evening, Jones talked about his experiences on the show and in the film-music industry, emphasizing that a career in the business demands hard work and perseverance.

Beyond his role on Family Guy, Jones also runs a top-flight big band in Los Angeles (which includes Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane as a regular guest vocalist), and presents numerous clinics for fellow composers across North America. Jones regularly runs a Ravel study group which draws participants from far and wide. Recently, he's been developing a course called “Compose Yourself” which offers, as he puts it, “all the stuff you didn’t learn in music school” about becoming, and surviving as, a working composer.

SOCAN member composers attending the event included Graeme Coleman, Terry Frewer, Daniel Ingram, John Sereda, Hal Foxton Beckett and Ed Henderson. SOCAN staff attending the event included Sara Pavilionis, April Lebedoff and Terry O'Brien.