"A true renaissance man living in a time
when there are no renaissance men."

Robert Gerber, International Classical Singer

Born in Houston, Texas, Dr. Malcolm W. Rector is a composer, a writer, a director and an independent filmmaker. Having earned a doctoral degree from Rice University, he divides his time between the previous occupations and teaching at the university level.

"His work is organic. It breathes . . .
and that's the good thing about it."

Isaac Hayes, Entertainer

Dr. Rector earned a bachelor's degree in classical composition at the University of St. Thomas, followed by both master's and doctoral degrees from Rice University. Among other awards, he was honored by the American Festival of the Arts and the Sonoklect International Concert Series of 20th Century Music. His compositions have been commissioned and actively sought by a member of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, the Wilson Symphony Orchestra, the Durham Arts Council, and Rice University's choral conductor among others. His electroacoustic piece “Two” was included on the internationally distributed CD 60 X 60. His piece Music for Clarinet and Piano has been selected for performance at the 2008 Society of Composers, Inc. National Conference.

Additional recent performances include his solo piano piece Blitzkrieg, which was included in a lecture-recital entitled The Black Composer: Influence, Inspiration and Identity given by Dr. Marie-Louise Catsalis. It was performed at Brisbane, for the 2007 joint Australian/New Zealand musicological conference Islands, at Notre Dame de Namur University and at Santa Clara University. Other performances include Shabbat Shalom (for choir, piano and horn), performed at last year’s conference of the Society of Composers, Inc., and Life and Silhouette (both for voice and piano), which were performed at the National Association of Negro Musicians conference, where Dr. Rector participated in a panel discussion of African-American art songs.

A full concert of Dr. Rector’s works entitled was presented by University of St. Thomas in Houston, TX, where Dr. Rector’s string quartet S.q 2 (S dot q 2) was performed by the Enso String Quartet and two of his jazz pieces, Legend and Dancing Dare, were performed by the Tom Borling Quartet. Excerpts of two short films Dr. Rector wrote, directed, produced and scored, The Contest and The Stairwell, were also shown.

Dr. Rector also has a strong background in jazz composition and has been performing (solo piano, small ensemble and big band) at public and private functions ever since he was a teenager. While a student, he studied jazz privately with Tom Borling and Ronnie Matthews. He was one of the featured entertainers at the Houston International Festival, where he performed both standards and originals.

"Regardless of how good you are as a composer
or as a songwriter, you still have to understand [the]
orchestra to do music, whether it’s [a] black film
[or a] white film. This writer clearly does."

Ken Sutherland, Music Composer

His film scoring has drawn praise from such notable figures as Isaac Hayes, Ken Sutherland and international concert singer Robert Gerber. In 2001, Dr. Rector won the film scoring competition at the Acapulco Black Film Festival. He has scored a number of short films, feature films, television pilots and movie trailers, including:

Fallen Diva
short film

Wounded Heart
feature film

Angels and Imams
Pilot funded by ABC

The Stairwell
short film

Darryl’s Theme
short film

The Contest
short film

Dr. Rector was also the Music Editor for:

Dreams in the Attic
a feature film, starring Shelley Duvall

As an undergraduate, Dr. Rector studied screenwriting and playwriting extensively. He is a prolific writer and has since written over a dozen screenplays that range in genre from comedy and romantic comedy to horror and drama. Thus far his screenplays have won and been finalists in a number of international competitions, including:

Dr. Rector has also written a full-length horror novel, entitled The Suirlang Chronicles: Lee that was a finalist in

This novel is also available as a screenplay.

Dr. Rector has written, directed and produced three short films. He also scored the films and their trailers. In addition, he recently plunged into the music video industry, successfully combining yet again his love of music with his love of filmmaking.

The Stairwell is a surreal drama in which a man faces the darkness that has guided him throughout his life. Chosen for one of only sixteen highly coveted slots, it was shown at the 2002 Jamerican International Film & Music Festival -- one of the top ten international film festivals in the world, according to E! Entertainment. There it won the Final Draft Screenwriters Award for best short script.

The Contest is a romantic comedy in which a young composer chosen as a finalist in an international composition competition falls in love with the one woman who can cost him the contest. This short film was also chosen for one of the sixteen coveted slots at the 2002 Jamerican International Film & Music Festival. It is based on a full-length script that reached the finals in the Sundance Feature Film Program. Dr. Rector composed all of the modern classical music showcased in the competition scenes. A talented and accomplished pianist, Dr. Rector performed one piece himself along with Robert Gerber: a piece for voice and piano.

Fallen Diva is a surreal drama that tells the story of a much lauded diva who abandons her family for her singing career as drugs lead her down a dark, destructive path. It was filmed in early summer 2007-early 2008 and will soon be making the film festival circuit.

Dr. Rector's latest music video Wack Attack (Crack Attack) is currently making the film festival circuit.