About my sound design & composition work
I have collaborated with many of North America’s finest theatre, dance, and new music artists and organizations, and have been honoured with six Jessie Richardson awards (19 total nominations) and a Siminovitch Prize nomination. Named by The Georgia Straight as one of the stars of the Vancouver scene, my music and sound have been heard across Canada, the U.S., Europe, and Australia. Currently, I keep active on a highly selective roster of projects.
What makes me distinctive as a sound designer is that — while well-trained as both a composer and a technician — my designs & compositions are deeply informed by my ongoing work as a director, dramaturge, actor, and playwright. I bring to my work a combination of musical expertise, technical proficiency, and a deep sense of theatrical storytelling.
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SELECTED THEATRE SOUNDSCAPES
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SELECTED INSTRUMENTAL SCORES FOR THEATRE
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SELECTED THEATRE SONGS
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SELECTED THEATRE-FOR-YOUNG-AUDIENCES COMPOSITIONS SONGS
selected theatre soundscapes
Copper Thunderbird
The National Arts Centre of Canada (2007)
Copper Thunderbird
The House Of Invention
The Library
Burning Vision
Rumble / Urban Ink (2002)
Burning Vision
Act 4 radarscape
Fire Whispers, Caribou Cross the Sky
Way Down the Mine Shaft
The Waves
Summerworks Festival (2018)
The Waves
Whale Aria movement 1 pt. a
Whale Aria movement 1 pt. b
Whale Aria movement 2
Whale Aria movement 3
The Yoko Ono Project
Firehall Arts Centre (2002)
The Yoko Ono Project
Part Painting Theme
A Good Match
Whisper Piece
Persephone’s Seasons
Tandem Productions (2000)
Persephone’s Seasons
The Child and the Crone
Goosey Goosey Gander
The Music of Spring
Reuniting
The Monument
Rumble Productions and Felix Culpa (2004)
The Monument
The Rules
Frantic
Chant
Final Moments
The Lonesome Cowboy
PI Theatre (2001)
The Lonesome Cowboy
Main Theme
Sand Clowns
He Meditates
Gunfight
Vegetables Scream
The Pillar Clock
Firehall Arts Centre (2001)
The Pillar Clock
Hospital pt. 1
Hospital pt. 2
selected instrumental scores for theatre
Glengarry Glen Ross
The Arts Club Theatre (2010)
Glengarry Glen Ross
Act 1 opening
Transition to scene 2
Transition to scene 3
End of Act 1
Act 2 opening
End of play
Macbeth
Pound of Flesh Theatre (2006)
Macbeth
Main Theme
Banque Is Murdered
Slaughter of the Macduffs
Pericles, Prince of Tyre
Bard on the Beach (2004)
Pericles, Prince of Tyre
Knights Dance
Knights Enter the Court
The Beheaded Are Displayed
The Brothel
A Holy Place
The Joust
Narrator's Theme
A Baby is Born, Its Mother Lost at Sea
Final Words
À la gauche de Dieu
Theatre la Seizième (2006)
À la gauche de Dieu
Opening
Hot Sex
Momentum Begins
Momentum Builds
Stormy Possibilities
We Accelerate
Going, Steady
In a Dream Tense
In a Sad Tense
Barren
The End
Antony & Cleopatra
Bard on the Beach Festival (2010)
Antony + Cleopatra
Opening Procession
Betrayal at Sea
Battle on Land
The Soothsayer
Procession of Ghosts
Final Battle
In Cleopatra's Chambers
selected theatre songs
Tiny Music
Jump Current Performance (2014)
Tiny Music
Tiny Music
Strange Stories
Apartment scene (before Open)
Open (instrumental)
The Story of the Boy and the Fiddle
Tick Tick Take
Faster Than This
The Caucasian Chalk Circle
Studio 58 (2003)
The Caucasian Chalk Circle
I Shall Wait for You
O the Blindness of the Great
When i Enter
Azdak
O Confusion
They Took the Child
Song of the Rotten Bridge
Song of Chaos
The Anger in Ernest & Ernestine
Turn Turle Theatre (2000)
The Anger in Ernest & Ernestine
So Many Reasons
The Taming of the Shrew
Simon Fraser University (1998)
The Taming of the Shrew
To Kill a Wife with Kindness
Song of Battles Braved and Deeds Done
selected theatre-for-young-audiences compositions
Comment Devenir Parfait en Trois Jours
Théâtre la Seizième (2002)
Comment Devenir Parfait en Trois Jours
Main Theme
Main Theme – Rock Version
Dream #2
Dream #3
The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood
Carousel Theatre (2010)
Robin Hood
Act 1 opening
transition from prison to the court
Quarterstaff fight
Archery Contest
Something is Afoot
Joyful Adventure Theme
The Secret Garden
Western Canada Theatre (2005)
The Secret Garden
The Secret Garden
Reviews
Re:Union (Horseshoes and Hand Grenades/Pacifc Theatre)
The production fills the tiny theatre space with very strong acting and some of the most impressive lighting (John Webber), sound (Noah Drew) and projection effects (Jason H. Thompson) ever seen there.
The production fills the tiny theatre space with very strong acting and some of the most impressive lighting (John Webber), sound (Noah Drew) and projection effects (Jason H. Thompson) ever seen there.
Jerry Wasserman
vancouverplays.com
The Monument (Rumble/Felix Culpa)
…visceral and brilliant, and it kept reconnecting us to the horror. At the top of the show—before a word was uttered—we were dragged into a nightmare by Noah Drew’s soundscape. Sickening and terrifying, it was like a car crash played at half speed.
…visceral and brilliant, and it kept reconnecting us to the horror. At the top of the show—before a word was uttered—we were dragged into a nightmare by Noah Drew’s soundscape. Sickening and terrifying, it was like a car crash played at half speed.
Penelope Mulligan
The Discorder
Robin Hood (Carousel Theatre)
Robin Hood … features outstanding design work … Noah Drew’s sound design is witty and energetic. If you’re not feeling merry by that point, the show’s closing number will lift you right out of your seat.
Robin Hood … features outstanding design work … Noah Drew’s sound design is witty and energetic. If you’re not feeling merry by that point, the show’s closing number will lift you right out of your seat.
Colin Thomas
The Georgia Straight
The League of Nathans (Touchstone Theatre)
Noah Drew’s astonishing sound design doesn’t miss a beat.
Noah Drew’s astonishing sound design doesn’t miss a beat.
Peter Bernie
The Vancouver Sun
Macbeth (Pound of Flesh Theatre)
It all happens in Noah Drew’s effective soundscape.
It all happens in Noah Drew’s effective soundscape.
Colin Thomas
The Georgia Straight
The Caucasian Chalk Circle (Studio 58)
Not only does this production look good, it sounds great, too. Noah Drew’s music ranges from haunting Balkan harmonies to contemporary, more Kurt Weill-ish discordance.
Not only does this production look good, it sounds great, too. Noah Drew’s music ranges from haunting Balkan harmonies to contemporary, more Kurt Weill-ish discordance.
Jo Leddingham
The Vancouver Courier
Broiler (Theatre Replacement)
Drew’s sound, with its array of distortions, echoes, and music, is downright symphonic.
Drew’s sound, with its array of distortions, echoes, and music, is downright symphonic.
Colin Thomas
The Georgia Straight
Cymbeline (Bard on the Beach)
…like Enya on acid.
…like Enya on acid.
Leanne Campbell
The Globe and Mail
Broiler (Theatre Replacement)
Noah Drew provides imaginative sound and excellent musical choices.
Noah Drew provides imaginative sound and excellent musical choices.
Jerry Wasserman
vancouverplays.com
Burning Vision (Urban Ink/Rumble Productions)
Noah Drew’s soundscape—an aural collage of voiceovers, crackling fire, underground explosions and music both Eastern and Western—is extraordinarily layered.
Noah Drew’s soundscape—an aural collage of voiceovers, crackling fire, underground explosions and music both Eastern and Western—is extraordinarily layered.
Jo Leddingham
The Vancouver Courier
Macbeth (Pound of Flesh Theatre)
Noah Drew’s fabulous eclectic soundscape provide[s] the ominous atmosphere… the slaughter of Lady Macduff and her children is just a wrenching sound cue.
Noah Drew’s fabulous eclectic soundscape provide[s] the ominous atmosphere… the slaughter of Lady Macduff and her children is just a wrenching sound cue.
Jerry Wasserman
vancouverplays.com
Thir$ty (Headlines Theatre)
Noah Drew’s sound design is as evocative as it gets.
Noah Drew’s sound design is as evocative as it gets.
Straight Choices
The Georgia Straight
The Monument (Rumble/Felix Culpa)
Noah Drew scores a soundscape as vast as that prairie sky, as intimate as a cowboy’s lullaby.
Noah Drew scores a soundscape as vast as that prairie sky, as intimate as a cowboy’s lullaby.
Jo Leddingham
The Vancouver Courier
Humble Boy (Vancouver Playhouse/National Arts Centre of Canada)
Noah Drew’s baroque score adds to the show’s high theatrical style.
Noah Drew’s baroque score adds to the show’s high theatrical style.
Denis Armstrong
The Ottawa Sun
Thir$ty (Headlines Theatre)
…a complex range of emotions, enhanced by Noah Drew’s seductive sound design
…a complex range of emotions, enhanced by Noah Drew’s seductive sound design
Kathleen Oliver
The Georgia Straight
The Monument (Rumble/Felix Culpa)
…the show opens with a bang, literally, a theatre-shaking explosion followed by an almost subliminal thrumming in a very effective sound design by Noah Drew.
…the show opens with a bang, literally, a theatre-shaking explosion followed by an almost subliminal thrumming in a very effective sound design by Noah Drew.
Jerry Wasserman
vancouverplays.com
The Yoko Ono Project (Firehall Arts Centre)
…a multi-media event … visual designer Tim Matheson and sound designer Noah Drew deserve huge credit.
…a multi-media event … visual designer Tim Matheson and sound designer Noah Drew deserve huge credit.
Martin Millerchip
North Shore News
The Monument (Rumble/Felix Culpa)
…stunning. Noah Drew’s sound design begins the evening with a bone-rattling rumble that literally shakes you in your seat. From that terrifying racket, a metallic screeching emerges; it sounds like the gates of hell are opening. And through the first tense scenes, a pulse beats in the background, like the drumming of an anxious heart.
…stunning. Noah Drew’s sound design begins the evening with a bone-rattling rumble that literally shakes you in your seat. From that terrifying racket, a metallic screeching emerges; it sounds like the gates of hell are opening. And through the first tense scenes, a pulse beats in the background, like the drumming of an anxious heart.
Colin Thomas
The Georgia Straight