Terry’s powerful and imaginative music enhances and pushes the boundaries of storytelling, adding additional dimensions to visual elements in film, television and other media and providing directors, producers and music supervisors a wide pallet of inspirational musical choices for their productions.
Terry is a native of the state of New Mexico, raised in the city of Clovis, New Mexico. Primarily self-taught, he began his musical studies on piano at an early age and began playing the bass at age 13. By the age of 15, he was performing in bands around eastern New Mexico and West Texas. Terry received a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts and relocated to New York City for study with the great jazz bassist and teacher, Rufus Reid. Terry has performed with many of the greatest names in Jazz and American Music including Gene Harris, Ray Bryant, Freddie Hubbard, Art Farmer, Dewey Redman, Ritchie Cole, Jane Monheit, Eric Gravatt, Victor Lewis, Marc Copland, Mike Stern, Lenny White, Joanne Brakeen and many others. Terry studied composition under renowned composer Carol Barnett in Minneapolis, Mn.
Terry has received many accolades and awards for his music and his productions, garnering 3 nominations from the Minnesota Music Awards and 7 nominations from the New Mexico Music Awards since 2020 with 4 wins for “Best Jazz Album.”
Terry uses state of the art virtual instruments including Spitfire Audio’s BBC Orchestra Professional, Spitfire Symphonic Strings, Spitfire Albion and Cinematic Strings, Spitfire Solo Strings, East-West Opus, Vienna Strings, Omnisphere, Stormdrum, Toontrack, Superior Drummer and others. Terry is also adept at Logic Pro X and Pro Tools and has access to the finest musicians, recording studios and mastering services.
Terry’s commercial releases are available on Spotify, Apple Music, iTunes and Amazon Music. Upcoming releases by Terry Burns and Songspeak Music will include “Storyteller,” a collection of orchestral works featuring Megan Holland on violin and Sam Oatts on trumpet (2026). Plans are also underway for a release of a collection of string quartets, quintets and sextets, slated for release in 2027.
