The media composition program at Cal State University Northridge was recently ranked one of the top 25 in the world.

  • CSUN media composition program started in 1999
  • Program accepts just 50 students a year
  • Now ranked in the top 25 programs worldwide

One of the reasons why this program received top honors is because of the students like Chang Jiang, who taught himself how to play piano on a hand-held Nintendo.

That was five years ago.

“I learned really fast and commercial writing is the most fun for me, and that's how I started,” said Jiang.

The young composer grew up in China and he moved to the United States to study at CSUN specifically because of the rising reputation of the media composition program.

The move was also motivated by the positive impact he felt joining the program would have on his life.  

“I remember, I used to not believe in myself much, and I have some friends who always encouraged me," he said. "I started trying more and more things, I got better and better. I feel very fortunate.”

Now headed into his senior year, he's working on multiple student projects. 

He starts each composition by playing a few notes on the piano while watching the film, then he takes a few notes in his chart book.

This early phase is full of what he calls “just random ideas,” that he will continue to refine.

Chang is one of less than 50 students a year that are accepted into this program, which started in 1999. 

A little over 20 years later, the program is ranked 17th in the world by The Hollywood Reporter.

After Chang has a general idea of where a particular composition wants to go, he'll then take notes and begin to score the film on his computer, making adjustments as needed.

”[The process] just takes a lot of rethinking and trying to get to the result that you're actually satisfied with,” he said.