IceCut Music began when my daughter started figure skating and entered her very first competition just a few months later. Like most skating families, we suddenly found ourselves learning an entirely new world at high speed — dresses, schedules, rules, registrations… and of course, music.
As a professional touriing and studio musician since 1987 I had been on the road with live bands and orchestras for decades, performed in some of the biggest concert venues across Europe and beyond, had many radio and TV credits to my name, and had a solid teaching practice offering jazz, world and rock music.
I knew my stuff, I was super-experienced and had been blessed with what pro musicians call 'great ears' so I assumed the music part would be simple.
It absolutely was not.
What looked like “cutting a song down to skating length” quickly revealed itself to be a surprisingly technical and creative process. Figure skating music editing has its own rules, challenges and artistry, and I quickly realized that many skating edits were being built without considering choreography, rink sound systems, emotional pacing, skater's timing, or the structure needed to support a skater through an actual performance.
And rink sound systems? That was an education all by itself. It turns out that most competition arenas are built primarily for hockey, not for the nuances of skating music. Many systems play in mono rather than stereo, meaning entire sections of a track can disappear unexpectedly. Quiet intros can become almost inaudible, while heavily amplified edits may distort badly at competition volume.
I also began noticing recurring problems in many competition cuts:
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awkward fade-endings instead of a proper finish,
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choruses barely appearing or resolving,
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abrupt transitions between songs,
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mismatched tempos or key changes,
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and music chosen because someone liked the song, rather than because it would actually support a skating performance.
A skating program needs structure.
It needs a beginning, a middle and an ending. It needs breathing room, build, momentum, emotion and a strong finish. Most importantly, it needs to help the skater.
So I bought professional software and started learning everything I could about skating-specific music editing. First I cut for my own skater, then for her friends, then for skaters in our club… and eventually for skaters, coaches and teams across the country and internationally.
Today, IceCut Music specializes in custom figure skating music edits designed specifically for competitive skating programs at all levels.
Why Skating Music Matters to Me
Figure skating gave my own daughter so many life skills - she learnt incredible grit, persistence and to always get back up in life because she was a skater who would never give up. She learned to ignore nay-sayers, be confident about herself no matter what others around her whispered and her music really matters to her when she skates. Music is not just background sound it is part of the magic, it smoothes and soothes the hard work and sometimes it communicates a skater's personality.
I believe that because skaters are doing something extraordinarily difficult: combining athletic precision with artistic storytelling while moving, spinning, jumping and contorting their bodies at speed on ice, they deserve music that supports all those things at once!
Music creates momentum, highlights choreography and helps audiences and judges understand what the skater is trying to communicate, and I want it to be perfect for them
My Background
I skated as a kid. Every two weeks my dad would drive me to the rink 30 miles away (a big deal back in those days!) and I loved it. My mom made me a skating dress out of royal blue crimpolene, I got $20 second-hand ice skates for my birthday and I had 3 lessons (total) from which I managed a pretty solid waltz jump. It was fun, but my real thing was always music, and thankfully I was a lot better at it than figure skating. However when my girl started skating and loved it as much as I had, we both threw our hats in the rink and have been involved in the skating world for more than 15 years.
I also come from a dance background, which strongly influences the way I approach skating music. Over the years I have spent countless hours watching lessons, listening to coaches and talking with skaters about choreography, timing, transitions and performance goals.
Truly, when I watch elite skaters in concert or competition, I am watching with my ears as much as my eyes – noticing how they use their music and how it supports their performance.
I have also worked as the music operator at many skating competitions, which gave me firsthand experience with the realities of rink sound systems, competition timing and the kinds of edits that succeed, or fail, under real competition conditions.
The Two Pieces I Refuse To Cut
There are only two tracks I routinely refuse to attempt - so please DON'T ask :)
Bohemian Rhapsody is an extraordinary piece of music which has 5 distinct sections, no chorus and 7 key changes. Condensing it from 5:55 mins into 1:40 mins coherently is optimistic at best (if you ever hear anyone who has done it successfully, please let me know!)
Ravel's Bolero is the other piece I won't cut for you (and I believe judges across America are thanking me for this!) However, its not simply becausethe music is so over-used in the skating world. It's because from the moment that snare drum begins at 0:00 to the epic end at 14:52 mins (and try and condense THAT into 1:40 mins) every judge in the building immediately remembers the pinnacle of skating perfection that was Torvill and Dean, or more recently Kevin Aymoz.
I want your music to help you stand out as your skating self.
My Standards
My standards are extremely high.
Every edit that leaves IceCut Music is built with the goal of creating a clean, competition-ready program that supports the skater technically, and artistically. If I would not let my own skater skate to a piece of music, I will not let yours skate to it either.
Because great skating music is not an audio backdrop to your performance. It should help every skater walk onto the ice feeling prepared, supported, confident and ready to win, pass, and have fun.