More than 200 contestants watched the same 40-second scene: a woman trudging through the snow in a picturesque mountain landscape. Some paired it with soaring orchestral music. Others leaned into indie rock, hip-hop, electronic textures, or stripped-down acoustic performances. A surprising number even selected their own music. We launched the Music Supervision Song Sync Contest to mark the debut of our new Master of Arts in Music Supervision program<\/a>, and the remarkable range of interpretations was exactly what we hoped to see. It also made choosing a winner no easy task.<\/p>\n\n\n\n After a panel of six judges narrowed the field from more than 200 entries to a top 10, the finalists were sent to Sean McMahon<\/a>, the chair of the Screen Scoring department<\/a> at Berklee College of Music, and the author of the Berklee Online course Composing the Orchestral Film Score<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Joy Sterling, 59, of Orlando, Florida, paired the scene with a song called \u201cGifts to Your Future Self<\/a>\u201d by Adam Dodson<\/a>, a choice that ultimately caught McMahon\u2019s ear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThey are all well done,\u201d he says. \u201cIt was really interesting to hear the different and creative approaches. I would say my favorite is \u2018Gifts to Your Future Self.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Though Sterling doesn\u2019t consider herself an instrumentalist, she has built experience as a singer, lyricist, church sound engineer, and occasional music editor for social media videos. For her day job, she is a product specialist for Staples.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI am thrilled to hear that my selection won the contest,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In her submission, she wrote, \u201cThis video highlights the serenity of exploring the natural world in solitude. I choose this music because its ethereal, calming quality invokes the feeling of peace.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\nOne Selection Rose Above the Rest<\/h2>\n\n\n\n