Biography

Dr. Nolan Stolz is Professor of Music at the University of South Carolina Upstate. His short music-films--Gravitation (2021), The Cuckoo's Song (2023), and Standing Waves (2024)--are currently on the film festival circuit. Dr. Stolz is best known for his work as a composer of concert music (e.g., the Lincoln Highway Suite [2013]) and his scholarship on Black Sabbath and heavy metal music (e.g., Experiencing Black Sabbath: A Listener's Companion). Stolz gained experience filming and editing from recording performances of his compositions, but in March 2020, he had to refocus his efforts to filming and editing his lectures, as Covid-19 forced his university courses online. He has since created hundreds of educational videos for his students and for the general public, primarily on Black Sabbath and Route 66.

Regarding his music-films, Stolz says: "I use video as a medium when audio alone does not adequately capture my intended artistic expression or when live performances of my musical compositions are impractical or impossible. My compositions are firmly rooted in the contemporary classical tradition yet clearly influenced by my performance background in jazz fusion and progressive rock."

In 2024, Stolz acted in a few scenes in Kaufman's forthcoming "The Power of Positive Murder" as an angry movie-goer (dressed as a "Kale University" professor throwing popcorn at the screen and later seen digging through the trash), an impressed movie-goer ("wow! cinema!"), and a movie-goer who interacts with the monster from Tromeo and Juliet. From 2020 to 2025, Stolz has been composing an hour-long orchestral work, the Route 66 Suite, due for previews in 2025 and premieres in 2026. He is also researching the early films of Lloyd Kaufman.
- IMDb mini biography by: Nolan Stolz