Film, television, and video game talent agent Cheryl Tiano (Music BFA 84) passed away on Nov. 2, 2020. She was 59.

Tiano spent 27 years as an agent representing film, television, and game composers through the Gorfaine-Schwartz Agency (GSA), where she was crucial to the development of its video games and interactive division.

Born in Cincinnati, Tiano attended the Berklee College of Music in Boston to study composition, in which she received her Bachelor of Fine Art at CalArts. Tiano went on to work with various arts organizations, notably the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, where she ran programming for its Monday Evening Concert Series. Her musical background enabled her, according to GSA partner Sam Schwartz, to be “sensitive to the art form itself and to the artists who created it.”

In May 1993, she joined GSA, where she “encouraged game producers to elevate their soundtracks by utilizing orchestras and prominent composers.” Among the composers Tiano represented were Brian Tyler (Avengers: Age of Ultron), Steve Jablonsky (Transformers), George S. Clinton (the Austin Powers films), Sean Callery (24), Gabriel Mann (Modern Family), and Jesper Kyd (Assassin’s Creed). 

“Cheryl was one of the smartest, most loving, and incredible human beings I’ve ever had the privilege to know for the last 24 years as my agent and friend,” composer Brian Tyler, who was represented by Tiano, was quoted in The Hollywood Reporter. “She was a true beacon in the music world and a champion for change for so many. My heart goes out to everyone who knew and loved her. This loss is incalculable.”