Stephan Moccio
 | This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations. (April 2011) |
Stephan Moccio | |
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| Born | October 20, 1972 St. Catharines, Ontario |
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Stephan Moccio is a Canadian composer, producer, pianist, arranger, conductor and recording artist.[1] He co-wrote and co-produced the two end credit songs for Fifty Shades of Grey and its soundtrack: "Earned It" (The Weeknd) and "I Know You" (Skylar Grey), with the former being nominated for Best R&B Song and Best Song Written For Visual Media at the 58th Annual Grammy Awards,[2] and Best Original Song at the 88th Academy Awards.[3] He also was a producer on the Weeknd's album Beauty Behind the Madness, which was nominated for Album Of The Year at the 58th Annual Grammy Awards.[2]
Moccio co-wrote Celine Dion's hit "A New Day Has Come" with Aldo Nova, which reached and held the number one spot on the Billboard AC Chart for a record-breaking 21 weeks. He also co-wrote Miley Cyrus' single "Wrecking Ball" from her 2013 studio album Bangerz. For the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics, Moccio co-wrote the theme song “I Believe” performed by Nikki Yanofsky.
He has collaborated with a diverse roster of artists including Avril Lavigne and Andrea Bocelli as a songwriter, musician and producer.
Early life
[edit]Stephan Moccio was born to an Italian-Canadian[4] father and a French-Canadian mother. Moccio is fluent in English and French. Growing up in Niagara Falls, Moccio began his piano studies at the age of 3. His musical style and vocabulary are influenced by the musical genres of classical, jazz, pop, hip hop, blues, and dance.
Career
[edit]Moccio enrolled at the University of Western Ontario where he studied performance and classical piano studies under instructors John Paul Bracey and Jack Behrens. After completing a Bachelor of Arts degree in composition and piano performance in 1994, he was accepted into Berklee College of Music. However, he chose to focus on developing his professional career and instead signed a publishing deal with Sony/ATV Music Publishing. During the early years of his tenure at Sony/ATV, Moccio worked as a session musician, in-house producer, arranger and composer, attending rehearsals of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, and playing in Toronto jazz clubs and hotel lounges, notably the Four Seasons Hotel's La Serre.
Throughout his nearly 9-year tenure at Sony/ATV, Moccio wrote for several award-winning Canadian and international artists, most notably Celine Dion, Sarah Brightman, and Josh Groban. Moccio spent many months in writing sessions in Nashville, Los Angeles, and New York during these years, which culminated in a lengthy catalogue of songs as musician, songwriter, producer and composer.
It was in 1996 that Moccio's special relationship with television programs began. TV themes he has written, performed and produced include ETalk, Marilyn Dennis Show, W5, Your Morning and for Rogers Sportsnet Central, Hockey Central, and Toronto Blue Jays on Sportsnet.
In 2001, Moccio began work on a melody that would become the chart-topping single "A New Day Has Come" recorded by Celine Dion, released on her album (in both a radio mix version and 3/4 time ballad album version), of the same name in February 2002. The song broke records at the time by maintaining the #1 position on the U.S. Hot Adult Contemporary charts for 21 weeks. The single would make it onto numerous compilation CDs and DVDs in North America. In 2003, Celine Dion titled her live residency Las Vegas show A New Day....
In 2003, Moccio left Sony/ATV Music Publishing Canada to work predominantly under his own publishing company, Sing Little Penguin. He soon moved into his state-of-the-art recording studio in downtown Toronto, where he continued to write, record, produce for both his solo projects and various collaborations with recording artists.
In 2008 Moccio teamed up with songwriter Alan Frew (Glass Tiger) to write "I Believe", the theme song of CTV's and Rogers Media's Canada's Olympic Broadcast Media Consortium for the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games. On March 1, 2010, "I Believe", covered by Nikki Yanofsky, reached 4 x Platinum status (CRIA[5]) in digital sales (over 160,000 digital units sold) in Canada. The same version achieved #1 status on iTunes Canada and Billboard's Canadian Hot 100 for 4 straight weeks in February 2010.
In February 2010, Moccio signed a Worldwide Publishing deal with Universal Music Publishing Group.[6]
In 2012, Moccio was one of the judges of the Canadian reality show, Canada's Got Talent. The show was later cancelled after one season but was revived in 2022.
In August 2013, Moccio moved to Los Angeles and currently works out of his record studio in Santa Monica.
In June 2019, Moccio was honoured by the University of Western Ontario with a Doctor of Music, honoris causa (DMus) degree.
In November 2019, Moccio signed a worldwide record deal with Decca Records.
Moccio is a Yamaha Artist[7] and performs exclusively on Yamaha Pianos.
His album Lionheart was a Juno Award nominee for Instrumental Album of the Year at the Juno Awards of 2023.[8]
Selected discography
[edit]As composer, songwriter or producer
[edit]| Title | Artist (Label) | Album | Year | Credit | Notes |
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| "A New Day Has Come" | Celine Dion (Sony) | A New Day Has Come | 2002 | Co-writer (Aldo Nova),[9] background vocals | #1 SOCAN Award,[10] BMI Pop Award,[11] SOCAN Classic Song Award,[12] Juno nomination for Single of the Year (2003), Million-air award (over 1,000,000 BDS spins on US radio) • produced by Walter Afanasieff • album 7 weeks at #1 in Canada (6× Platinum - CRIA[13]), #1 US (3xPlatinum - RIAA), #1 Europe (3xPlatinum - IFPI) • 5th best-selling album of 2002 • Vegas show A New Day... |
| "Earned It (Fifty Shades of Grey)" | The Weeknd (Republic) | Fifty Shades of Grey Soundtrack | 2015 | Co-writer, co-producer, piano | #3 US Billboard Hot 100 • 4× Platinum (RIAA) • #9 Billboard Hot 100 Year End Chart 2015 |
| "I Believe" | Nikki Yanofsky (Decca) | Nikki | 2010 | Co-writer (Alan Frew), producer, piano | #1 (4 weeks) Canadian Billboard Hot 100 and certified 4× Platinum (CRIA), nomination - Best AC Song (Canadian Radio Music Awards) • album certified gold (CRIA) |
| "I Know You" | Holly Hafermann KIDinaKORNER, Interscope | Fifty Shades of Grey: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack | 2015 | Co-writer, co-production | |
| "Perfect Gift" | The Canadian Tenors (Decca) | The Perfect Gift | 2010 | Co-writer, producer | Album #1 Billboard Cross-over Classical chart, certified 3× Platinum (CRIA) |
| "What You Never Know" | Sarah Brightman (Angel/EMI) | Harem | 2003 | Writer | Also recorded in French for the Canadian release "Tout Ce Que Je Sais" • album certified Gold (CRIA), reaching #29 US Billboard Top 200 and #7 Canada album charts; #1 Classical US Billboard album chart • #5 best-selling crossover album of 2003 (Billboard) |
| "Wrecking Ball" | Miley Cyrus (RCA) | Bangerz | 2013 | co-writer Sacha Skarbek, Lukasz Gottwald, Maureen Anne McDonald, Henry Russell Walter, piano | 4× Platinum (RIAA) • Produced by Dr. Luke • peaked #1 (3 weeks) on Billboard Hot 100 |
| "Hope" | Kardinal Offishall (Black Stone Colleagues) | Kardi Gras, Vol. 1: The Clash | 2015 | Co-writer, producer | |
| "Head Above Water" | Avril Lavigne (BMG) | Head Above Water | 2018 | co-writer with Avril Lavigne & Travis Clark | |
| "Courage" | Celine Dion (Columbia) | Courage | 2019 | Co-writer with The New Royales, producer | |
| A Family Christmas | Andrea Bocelli, Matteo Bocelli, Virginia Bocelli (Decca / Capitol Records) | A Family Christmas | 2022 | Producer / Composer |
As recording artist
[edit]| Year | Album / single details | Peak | Certifications (sales threshold) | ||
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| 2006 | Exposure
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10 | 1 | 4 |
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| 2020 | Fracture (Single)
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| 2020 | Whitby (Single)
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| 2020 | Sea Change (Single)
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| 2020 | Nuit Blanche (Single)
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| 2020 | Le Temps Qui Passe (Single)
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| 2020 | Burgundy (Single)
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| 2020 | Freddie's Theme (Single)
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| 2020 | Ghosts (Single)
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| 2020 | Tales of Solace (Album)
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| 2020 | Carol of the Bells / Christmas Time is Here (Singles)
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| 2020 | Winter Poems (Album)
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| 2020 | Christmas Will Be Different This Year (Single)
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| 2021 | Ow (Single)
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| 2021 | Vol. 1 (Single)
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| 2021 | Earned it (Solo Piano) - (Single)
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| 2021 | Adore (Single)
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| 2021 | Vol. 2 (Single)
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| 2021 | Matin (Single)
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| 2021 | Vol. 3 (Single)
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| 2021 | Wrecking Ball - Solo Piano Version (Single)
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| 2021 | October (Single)
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| 2021 | Vol. 4 (Album)
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| 2021 | Tristesse (Single)
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| 2021 | Vol. 5 (Album)
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| 2021 | Manolete (Single)
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| 2021 | Vol. 6 (Album)
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| 2021 | Life (Single)
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| 2021 | Vol. 7 (Single)
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| 2021 | Le Jardin de Monsieur Monet (Single)
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| 2021 | Fireflies (Single)
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| 2021 | Halston (Single)
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| 2021 | Castles in Spain (Single)
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| 2021 | Lionheart (Album)
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| 2021 | Winter Waltz (The Music Box Version) - (Single)
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| 2021 | The Archives (Album)
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| 2022 | Blue Monday (Single)
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| 2022 | Owl Light (Single)
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| 2022 | 2 Eventide (Single)
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| 2022 | The Night Suite (Single)
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| 2022 | Brian's Song (Single)
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| 2023 | Once and Now (Single)
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References
[edit]- ^ "Interview - Stephan Moccio". Music News. Retrieved December 25, 2020.
- ^ a b "Stephan Moccio". GRAMMY.com. Retrieved April 7, 2022.
- ^ Rose, Lauren La (February 24, 2016). "Best song nominee Stephan Moccio turns to Toronto tailor Don Lee for Oscar suit". CTVNews. Retrieved April 7, 2022.
- ^ Pingitore, Silvia (November 19, 2020). "From Wrecking Ball and Fifty Shades of Grey to the roots of solo piano music: interview with Stephan Moccio". the-shortlisted.co.uk. Retrieved July 22, 2021.
- ^ "Gold Platinum Database". Archived from the original on June 16, 2012. Retrieved October 17, 2011.
- ^ "UMPG Inks Deal With Stephan Moccio". Retrieved October 17, 2011.
- ^ "Contemporary Pianos - Stephan Moccio". Retrieved October 17, 2011.
- ^ "Here are all the 2023 Juno nominees". CBC Music, January 31, 2023.
- ^ Kawashima, Dale. "Aldo Nova & Stephan Moccio Tell How They Wrote The Big Celine Dion Hit, "A New Day Has Come"". Retrieved October 17, 2011.
- ^ "SOCAN Award Winners List 1990 to 2010" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on February 2, 2014. Retrieved October 17, 2011.
- ^ "BMI Pop Music Awards: Winners List". Retrieved October 17, 2011.
- ^ "20th Annual SOCAN Awards Toronto 2009 - Winners List". Archived from the original on February 22, 2012. Retrieved October 17, 2011.
- ^ "Gold Platinum Database". Archived from the original on June 14, 2012. Retrieved October 17, 2011.
General references
[edit]- Canada's National Art Centre Stephan Moccio in Concert
- Hope and Cope Foundation Soiree Fantastique
- Stephan Moccio's Profile on Artist Direct
- Kerr, Peter. "Stephan Moccio's I Believe - CTV's Olympic broadcast anthem becomes Canada's 15th "Gold performance". The Montrealer. Archived from the original on July 17, 2011. Retrieved January 21, 2011.
- Christman, Ed (March 5, 2010). "UMPG Inks Deal With Stephan Moccio". Billboard. Retrieved January 21, 2011.
- "New Bilingual I Believe / J'Imagine Video To Debut Before Vancouver 2010 Closing Ceremony". CTV. February 28, 2010. Archived from the original on March 5, 2010. Retrieved March 4, 2010.
- Thompson, Robert; Paine, Andre (February 18, 2010). "Olympic Anthem Tops Billboard Canadian Hot 100". Billboard. Retrieved March 4, 2010.
- Bradshaw, James (January 20, 2010). "Olympic theme song a long time in the making". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved March 4, 2010.
- Billboard Canadian Hot 100
- Stephan Moccio at Sugarcain Entertainment
- Ayroso, Crissandra (October 17, 2006). "Stephan Moccio Emerges From Behind The Scenes to Release Solo Debut". Chart. Archived from the original on June 7, 2011. Retrieved July 9, 2009.
- Stephan Moccio at Songwriter Universe
- Debbage, Michael. "Moccio - Color".
- Sage, Amanda. "Stephan Moccio, composer-songwriter-producer-musician".
- "Stephan Moccio".
- Mandel, Mike. ""Color" a New CD by Moccio".
- Terauds, John (November 8, 2010). ""Color" a New CD Review". The Star. Toronto.
External links
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