Composer who took unconventional path through Lawrence pays it forward 20 years later

Francis (Frank) James Ralls ’04 didn’t come through Lawrence University in any sort of usual way.

A music producer and composer whose work includes scoring original music for television and film and Disney theme parks, Ralls likens his time at Lawrence to a life raft. It’s a connection that continues to resonate as he pays it forward, mentoring young Lawrentians as they forge their own paths in the music industry.

“I would not have been able to do anything I’ve done career-wise, and I would say even personally, without Lawrence because my world view has been so impacted by Lawrence, past and present,” he said in an interview from his Red Sector A studio space near St. Augustine on Florida’s northeast coast.

A needed restart

Getting to where he is now has been a testament to resiliency. Ralls spent the late 1990s recalibrating a life that was teetering on the rails. He had spent his teen and early adult years in Madison, Wisconsin, being, as he described it, too easily distracted. He never finished high school. In need of a reset, he moved in with his parents in Appleton and began work toward his GED at Fox Valley Technical College.

“I was coming out of a rough season of life,” he said.

Refocused, Ralls enrolled in UW-Fox Valley’s two-year program, with dreams of one day studying music in Lawrence’s Conservatory of Music. Music had been the one constant in his chaotic youth. And Lawrence, he said, was his beacon of hope—his grandmother had attended Lawrence, and a close friend had recently graduated from Lawrence, so he felt some familiarity.

“Music had always been my passion,” Ralls said. “It’s been my calling in life. And Lawrence was right there. I just said, ‘I’m going to do everything I can to get to Lawrence’.”

By the time he landed on the Lawrence campus in 1999 as a non-traditional transfer student, he was 24 years old and married with two children. When he completed his Bachelor of Arts in music five years later, he and his wife, Tara, had five kids.

A guiding voice

Understandably, Ralls’ path through Lawrence was not linear. He started and stopped. Took a leave. Came back. Worked part-time jobs. Focused on classical music, then jazz. All while parenting a growing family. He was 29 when he finally walked across the Commencement stage in the spring of 2005.

“I was committed to finishing,” he said.

The late Fred Sturm, who was leading the jazz program at the time, became an advisor, guiding Ralls through some difficult days. He became Ralls’ biggest fan.

“I remember Fred in class one day saying to another student who didn’t get his work done, ‘What is the problem? Frank did it, and he’s got five kids,’ Ralls said with a laugh. “Then I’d spend the next two weeks avoiding that guy on campus.”

Sturm remained a mentor long after Ralls graduated, a relationship that continued until Sturm’s death in 2014. Conservatory professors Jose Encarnación, Catherine Kautsky, and Matthew Turner, and later Dean Brian Pertl, also provided inspiration and guidance that Ralls said continues to elevate his work to this day. 

“They literally blew my mind when I was studying with them,” Ralls said. “They just introduced me to so much that I never even knew was possible. And my ongoing collaborations with Dean Pertl have been so encouraging and formative. It’s all taught me the value of rolling your sleeves up and getting at it.” 

Building connections

Since graduating, Ralls has built a career centered on two areas of music-making—scoring music for film and TV and creating music for use by Disney, most notably in their massive theme parks all over the world. The former has included the likes of Jane Goodall: The Hope (Disney+) and Around the World in 80 Days (BBC/PBS), working as a contributing composer to the Emmy Award-winning Bleeding Fingers Music collective and Extreme Music, and partnering with such notable composers as Hans Zimmer and Christian Lundberg. And the latter has included creating music for Disney’s Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge, Disneyland Hong Kong, Disneyland Tokyo, and Disney’s California Adventure, among others. (See francisjamesralls.com).

It's a music career built on talent, a Lawrence-inspired work ethic, and a relentless push to make connections. He has sustained relationships in the music industry in both Florida and southern California, where he and Tara, a talented visual artist, split their time.

“Every free moment I had was at a recording studio, meeting people, asking around,” Ralls said.

Through it all, he had Sturm’s voice in his head.

“He said, ‘Work whatever jobs you can. No matter where you are, always seek out the best talent around you and learn the conventions, master the conventions, because only then can you innovate’,” Ralls said. “That is where you begin to have a very unique value to people around you in your field.”

Working in Zimmer’s orbit led to a meeting with Russel Emanuel, the CEO of Bleeding Fingers Music and Extreme Music, the production arm of Sony Music Publishing. That meeting opened doors that led to everything from film and TV work to the composing of the final four movements of a symphony for Norwegian violinist Eldbjørg Hemsing on the Sony Classical label. Similar hustle got him a seat at the table at Disney.

“You can get in the room, but what happens after that is really up to you,” Ralls said.

Paying it forward

That’s a message he now imparts to the young Lawrentians he mentors. He works in an unofficial capacity with two recent Lawrence graduates, Nathan Glaser ’21 and Aaron Montreal ’22, and one current student, junior Joey O’Connor, subcontracting work to them and providing important guidance.

“It’s an opportunity for them to gain some experience, develop some skills, build a portfolio so you have a little street cred when you start entering into your own circles and living your own story,” Ralls said.

O’Connor, a music education and music performance major from Whitelaw, Wisconsin, composes tracks based on specs shared by Ralls. He calls the work a “boots-on-the-ground” experience.

“I send over tracks, and he will respond with feedback,” O’Connor said. “We keep going back and forth, tweaking until we have the product. It’s such a gift to be able to experience what industry-standard routine is, and having Frank there to expertly show me the ropes is something I will never be able to thank him for enough.”

Glaser, who graduated with a dual degree in music composition and economics, has made music under Ralls’ guidance for multiple Disney Parks projects and reality TV shows, including Fox’s MasterChef and NBC’s The Voice. Ralls leaves him detailed and helpful notes as he guides him through various elements of music creation.

“He’s given input on track revisions where his perspective shows me something I would’ve never thought to do on my own,” Glaser said. “Other times, he encourages me to figure things out myself and stretch outside my comfort zone.”

Montreal, meanwhile, has worked with Ralls in composing and producing for music libraries—catalogs that are marketed for use in film, television, advertising—and transcribing and arranging music for live performances.

“I've learned so much about creating different styles of music at a professional standard through the opportunities he's given me," Montreal said.

Ralls, who joined Tara in founding the Coronado Arts Academy in Coronado, California, in 2017 as an investment in youth, called it a privilege to provide career opportunities to young Lawrentians.

“It’s been a pleasure to see them grow, to see them step up, to see them reflect the same work ethic that I learned at Lawrence,” he said. 

And in another nod to helping his alma mater, Ralls volunteered to write original music to be featured in a video celebrating the Conservatory. That video, to be produced by Lawrence’s Office of Communications in collaboration with the Conservatory, is in progress.

“I am so pumped about that,” Ralls said. “I’m excited to see the video come to life.”