A stellar lineup of Broadway’s top sound design and technical professionals will make up this year’s Broadway Sound Master Classes to be held June 17-20 at John Jay College in New York City.
Legendary sound designer Abe Jacob, the faculty chair for the BSMC, has announced that sound designers Tony Meola (Wicked, The Lion King), Dan Moses Schreier (Assassins, Into The Woods), Rob Milburn, and John Kilgore have agreed to serve as faculty members for this year’s event. In addition, a panel of Broadway’s top board operators will convene for a special technical session.
Legendary sound designer for theatre and opera, tireless champion of union representation for his fellow artisans, and an EDDY Award winner, Abe Jacob designed the sound for such seminal Broadway shows as Jesus Christ Superstar, A Chorus Line, Pippin, Chicago, Cats, and Evita, virtually creating the position of sound designer in the process. In the past 15 years, Jacob has helped secure a charter for sound designers within IATSE (Local 922); and in 1993 he helped the Local achieve its first collective bargaining agreement with the League of American Theatres and Producers. And in 1999, he helped merge the sound designers with Local One. Abe Jacob got his start in San Francisco mixing sound for such 60s rock stars as Jimi Hendrix, The Mamas and the Papas, and Peter, Paul, and Mary, and designed the sound system for the Monterey Pop Festival. Born and raised in Tucson, he still spends his winters in Arizona, where he occasionally does work for the Arizona Theatre Company.
Tony Meola has designed more than twenty-six Broadway productions including Sweet Smell of Success, Kiss Me Kate, Footloose, The King and I and Smokey Joe’s Café. He received the 1998 Drama Desk Award for his sound design on the Broadway production of The Lion King, and his design for the revival production of The Sound of Music was nominated for an American Theatre Wing Design Award. He also has designed the sound for off-Broadway shows (A New Brain and Love, Janis among others) as well as productions in London and elsewhere in Europe.
Dan Moses Schreier’s Broadway credits include Into the Woods; Topdog/Underdog; Dirty Blonde; Amour; Dance of Death; The Ride Down Mt. Morgan; The Diary of Anne Frank; The Tempest; Bring in 'da Noise, Bring in 'da Funk; The Government Inspector; Hedda Gabler. Off-Broadway: Homebody/Kabul, Radiant Baby, Spinning Into Butter, Far East, Floyd Collins, Spic-O-Rama, God's Heart and many others. As a composer, he wrote the music for Broadway's Dance of Death, George C. Wolfe's The Tempest (with Carlos Valdez) and Daniel Sullivan's Major Barbara and Julius Caesar. Innova Recordings will release a CD of his music/theatre piece The Shoulder, written with Dan Hurlin, produced at the Walker Art Center and the Long Wharf Theatre. He received the 2003 Entertainment Design Award for Sustained Excellence, two Drama Desk Awards (Into the Woods, Floyd Collins), an Obie Award, AUDELCO Award and grants from the National Endowment for the Arts.
John Kilgore is a sound designer, recording engineer and composer. Sound designs for theater include numerous designs for the Manhattan Theatre Club, Classic Stage Company, Soho Rep, the Public Theater and the La Jolla Playhouse, among many others. His sound design for the Los Angeles production of Love! Valour! Compassion! was nominated for an Ovation Award. Recent recording credits include every work by Steve Reich since The Cave, including City Life, Proverb, Nagoya Marimbas as well as new recordings of Music for 18 Musicians (1999 Grammy Award), New York Counterpoint, Four Organs and Eight Lines, Triple Quartet, with the Kronos Quartet and the newly-released (as of August 19th 2003) DVD of Three Tales. He has recorded Dexter Gordon, James Moody, Woody Shaw, Gil Evans' Orchestra, Big Mama Thornton, The Brooklyn Philharmonic, DNA, Julius Baker, Richard Goode, Richard Stolzman, The Empire Brass Quintet, the American Brass Quintet and Ervin Nyiregyhazi to name just a few. He has been resident composer for Pooh Kaye's Eccentric Motions Dance Company since 1983, and has provided scores for many pieces, as well as Ms. Kaye's films Sticks on the Move, House of Floating Paper, Swept Up, Wake Up Call and The Painted Princess. He was composer, behind-the-scenes performer and musical director for Len Jenkin's Dream Express. John has served as director of recording services for Masque Sound & Recording since 1986. The Recording Division's studio is a production facility specializing in sound effects, voice-overs and music editing for theater, film dance and multimedia.
Rob Milburn works extensively as a sound designer with Steppenwolf Theatre and has been a composer and resident designer at the Goodman Theatre for 15 seasons. His Broadway credits include music composition and sound for One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, My Thing of Love, and The Speed of Darkness, and sound designs for King Hedley II (also at Seattle Rep), Buried Child, The Song of Jacob Zulu, The Rise and Fall of Little Voice, and The Grapes of Wrath. Off-Broadway he composed music and sound for Boy Gets Girl, Space, Red, Sin, and Marvin’s Room (also in Chicago, Boston, L.A., D.C., and London’s West End), designed sound and directed music for Sam Shepard’s Eyes for Consuela and designed sound for Jitney (Seattle Rep, Off-Broadway, and London). He has also designed sound for the national tour of Angels in America. His music or sound has traveled to many of America’s resident theatres and several international venues. He is the recipient of 31 award nominations, receiving 13 awards for original music or sound design including the Michael Merritt Award for Design and Collaboration.
The BSMC will focus on the creative and artistic side of the design disciplines. There will also be a Manufacturer Showcase for professional cutting-edge audio products. Corporate sponsors have table top displays with the latest technology, offering attendees invaluable hands-on exposure to cutting-edge technologies in an informal setting. Additional information: www.entertainmentdesignmag.com