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Meet our 2026 mentors

  • We are delighted to welcome Rob Wells back for the 3rd year in a row!

    Rob Wells is a multi-platinum, award-winning music producer and songwriter based in Canada.

    Wells has worked with Ariana Grande, Justin Bieber, Selena Gomez, Adam Lambert, Serena Ryder, Nick Lachey, Mika, Katharine McPhee, Backstreet Boys, Kai, Paloma Faith, Alex Aiono, Nelly Furtado, Big Time Rush, Mindless Behavior, Cyndi Lauper, Corey Hart, Olivia Newton John, Boyzone, Ronan Keating, Ria Mae, Lights, USS, Frank Walker, Bobby Bazini, Tep No, Victoria Duffield, Keshia Chante, Matt Dusk, Marie-Mai, Marc Dupre, Shiloh, RyanDan and many others.

    His work has been featured in numerous films, television shows, commercials and video games worldwide.

    With a star on the Mississauga Music Walk of Fame, Rob has appeared as a music producer on Canadian Idol, The House Of Carters & The Next Star.  His awards include first place in numerous songwriting competitions, and SOCAN #1 awards with gold, platinum & multi-platinum certifications.

  • Also returning for 2026 is the fantastic, Maria Christensen.

    Maria is a multi platinum award winning songwriter and artist with hit songs recorded by global artists including  Celine Dion, JenniferLopez, N’Sync and many placements in Disney films and TV shows including Girl Meets World (feat. Sabrina Carpenter) and Stuck In The Middle.

    Originally from South Florida by way of Pittsburgh, PA, Her strong voice caught the ear of Grammy award winning producer Ric Wake, who produced such artists as Mariah Carey, Celine Dion and Taylor Dane and moved her to New York to record with him. The result was her self-titled album on Atlantic Records.

    At that time she co wrote with some of the most successful songwriters in New York and she honed her own skills as a songwriter and began to place songs with many successful artists. This lead to a publishing deal with “Notation Music Publishing”.

    Her songs have been recorded by artists including Celine Dion (“Just a Little Bit of Love” and “Christmas Eve”) both on which she also lent backing vocals, and N’SYNC (“The Only Gift”).

    Later she was signed to A&M Records as the lead singer of the group 3rd Party for which she co-wrote the song “Waiting for Tonight” with TSA mentor Michael Garvin. The song went on to become a top 5 Billboard charting worldwide hit for Jennifer Lopez.

    Her music can also be heard in films and TV. shows such as Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen, Drumline, Kiss me Guido and Queer Eye for the Straight Guy.

    Recently she placed two songs on the hit Disney film Lemonade Mouth. From there she cultivated a relationship that resulted with song placements in other Disney TV shows such as Austin and Ally and Jessie.

    Her Christmas song “Favorite Time of Year” was feature at the Macy’s Day parade last year as performed by Debby Ryan.

    She also wrote the theme song for Disney’s hit TV show Girl Meets World, called Take on The World and current has the single Lucky Me with up coming young country artist Tegan Marie,  She recently landed the theme song for new Disney show Stuck in the Middle.

  • Craig Stuart Garfinkle is an award winning and IFTA, Emmy, Ivor Novello, and Mark Award nominated music producer and composer. Specializing in orchestral scores, he has worked on feature films, video games, trailers, documentaries, television, multimedia projects and advertisement.

    In collaboration with his wife, Eimear Noone, Craig has produced and orchestrated for countless orchestral concerts including The Danish National Symphony, The National Symphony of Ireland, The Lyric Opera of Chicago, The Skywalker Symphony, and many more.

    Craig has composed extensively for films including the animated features, The Canterville Ghost (w/ Eimear Noone, starring Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie), The Magic Reindeer Saving Santa’s Sleigh (w/ Eimear Noone, IFTA and IAA Award Nominations) Two by Two Overboard (w/ Eimear Noone, Hollywood Music in Media Award Nominee, Best Original Song, Ivor Novello Award Nominee, Best Film Score) the family drama, It’s Dark Here (Starring Illiana Douglas, Bubba Lewis, and William Mapother), the black comedy, Get Out if You Can (Directed by TJ Martin), and the supernatural thriller, Blood Relative (Starring Cristin Milioti).

    His contribution to over 140 film trailers includes J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek, the Harry Potter franchise, James Bond, Sin City, Red, Vicky Christina Barcelona, Over the Hedge, Spider-man III, HALO II and many more. Craig’s music has also appeared in 100’s of film and television projects such as NBC's The Office, Fringe, Lost, The Sopranos, X Factor, and America's Got Talent.

    As a video game composer, Craig has just completed the soon to be released, Bloodlines 2, Vampire, The Masquerade. Other notable scores would be the iconic video game, World of Warcraft and its expansion, Warlords of Draenor (Hollywood Music in Media Award, Best Video Game Score) and Baldur’s Gate, The Dark Alliance 2.  His experience in the genre goes back to the first Dungeons and Dragons Games for TSR Inc.

    His composition work has led to many awards and accolades (in addition to those named above) including an IFTA and Irish Animation Award nomination for his animated scores, and an Emmy nomination for his documentary score for the KAET PBS special, Visions of Arizona. His composition Waltz to the Underworld received a 2018 Mark Award nomination for Best Trailer Composition, and a song that he produced, “I Never Believed in Love, ‘til I believed in You”, received the Emmy award for Best Original Song.

    Currently, Craig is composing, alongside his wife Eimear Noone, the score for a yet to be announced game score. Craig’s past work in animation includes multiple Disney series, most notably as one of the songwriters for The Little Mermaid series and one of the composers for Raw Toonage, which also earned an Emmy nomination for original composition. A Work in Progress…

    As a 25+ year veteran of film, stage and television production, Craig Stuart Garfinkle has held just about every position in front of and behind the camera including composer, director, producer, editor, writer, sound mixer, and show host.

    Selected Achievements

    • Emmy Nominated Composer

    • 2026 IFTA Nomination, Best Original Score, “Báite” (with Eimear Noone)

    • 2025 Newport Beach Film Festival, Outstanding International Documentary Award, “The Unsinkable Entrepreneur” (Director)

    • 2025 IFTA Nomination, Best Film Score, “The Magic Reindeer, Saving Santa’s Sleigh.” (with Eimear Noone)

    • 2025 Irish Animation Award nomination, Best Film Score, “The Magic Reindeer, Saving Santa’s Sleigh.” (with Eimear Noone)

    • 2021 Ivor Novello Nominee, Best Original Film Score, “Two by Two Overboard” (with Eimear Noone)

    • 2021 Award Best Documentary Score, Golden State Film Festival.

    • 2018 Mark Award Nominee, Best Trailer Composition, “Waltz to the Underworld” for A-List Music.

    • 2014 Music in Media Award, Best Video Game Score – World of Warcraft, Warlords of Draenor

    • ASCAP Composer’s Choice Nominee, Best Video Game Score World of Warcraft, Warlords of Draenor

    • Co-Created and produces The Dublin International Game Music Festival

    • Directed, produced, edited and scored the feature documentary, Dane Cook, 30 Premeditated Acts

    • Directed, produced, edited and scored 100’s of commercials, promos and trailers for clients such as The Disney Channel, Paramount Pictures, and Warner BrothersTelevision.

    • Produced, edited, and mixed three number one selling comedy CD’s

    • Produced, edited and mixed three of the top ten selling comedy CD’s from the year 2000-16

    • Composed for 140+ film trailers, which have sold over $5 Billion in movie tickets

    • Produced two successful Kickstarter campaigns

    • Produced, composed and orchestrated the stage show, This is Ireland, starring Pierce Brosnan and Roma Downey.

    • 2011 “Arts Instructor of the Year,” UCLA Extension School of the Arts

  • Dannys talk - https://thelark.ticketsolve.com/ticketbooth/shows/1173678378

    Nathans talk - https://thelark.ticketsolve.com/ticketbooth/shows/1173678379

    All attendees will meet the guest speakers before the talk and have free entry to it.