Noah Drew

music+sound performance creation acting

For over a decade, I was one of Canada’s busiest and most sought-after sound designers. 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 fundamentally informed by my ongoing work as a director, actor, and playwright. I bring to my work a combination of musical expertise, technical proficiency, and a deep sense of theatrical storytelling.

Get in touch

Audio samples

selected theatre sound designs 2006 – 2016

click on the title of a production in the tabs above
to listen to audio samples from 2006 – 2016…

Tiny Music

Produced by Jump Current Performance (2014)

Tiny Music

Open

Tick Tick Take

Faster Than This

Strange Stories

Glengarry Glen Ross

Produced by The Arts Club Theatre (2010)

Act 2 Opener

Copper Thunderbird

Produced by The National Arts Centre of Canada (2007)

The House of Invention

The Library

Macbeth

Produced by Pound of Flesh Theatre (2006)

Jessie Richardson Award for Outstanding Composition or Sound Design

Main Theme

Banquo is Murdered

Slaughter of the Macduffs

The Secret Garden

Produced by Western Canada Theatre (2005)

The Secret Garden

À la gauche de Dieu

Produced by Théâtre la Seizième (2006)

Overture

Loss

selected theatre sound designs 2000 – 2005

click on the title of a production in the tabs above
to listen to audio samples from 2000 – 2005…

The Monument

Produced by Rumble Productions and Felix Culpa (2004)

Jessie Richardson award for Outstanding Music Composition or Sound Design

The Rules

Final Moments

Frantic

Chant

Pericles, Prince of Tyre

Produced by Bard on the Beach (2004)

Jessie Richardson Award for Outstanding Music Composition or Sound Design

Knights Dance

The Brothel

Narrator's Theme

Knights Enter the Court

A Holy Place

A Baby is Born, Its Mother Lost at Sea

The Beheaded Are Displayed

The Joust

Final Words

Comment Devenir Parfait en Trois Jours

Produced by Théâtre la Seizième (2002)

Piano Theme

Rock Out Theme

Dream #2

Dream #3

The Yoko Ono Project

Produced by the Firehall Arts Centre (2002)

Jessie Richardson award for Outstanding Music Composition or Sound Design

Part Painting Theme

A Good Match

Whisper Piece

The Pillar Clock

Produced by the Firehall Arts Centre (2001)

Hospital pt. 1

Hospital pt. 2

The Lonesome Cowboy

Produced by PI Theatre (2001)

Jessie Richardson Award nomination for Outstanding Design Team

Main Theme

Gunfight

Sand Clowns

Vegetables Scream

He Meditates

Persephone’s Seasons

Tandem Productions (2000)

Jessie Richardson award nomination for Outstanding Design Team

The Child and the Crone

Reuniting

Goosey Goosey Gander

The Music of Spring

Reviews

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. Re:Union (Horseshoes and Hand Grenades/Pacifc Theatre)

Jerry Wasserman, vancouverplays.com

Drew’s sound, with its array of distortions, echoes, and music, is downright symphonic. Broiler (Theatre Replacement)

Colin Thomas, The Georgia Straight

Noah Drew’s baroque score adds to the show’s high theatrical style. Humble Boy (Vancouver Playhouse/National Arts Centre of Canada)

Denis Armstrong, The Ottawa Sun

…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. The Monument (Rumble/Felix Culpa)

Penelope Mulligan, The Discorder

…like Enya on acid. Cymbeline (Bard on the Beach)

Leanne Campbell, The Globe and Mail

…a complex range of emotions, enhanced by Noah Drew’s seductive sound design Thir$ty (Headlines Theatre)

Kathleen Oliver, The Georgia Straight

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 (Carousel Theatre)

Colin Thomas, The Georgia Straight

Noah Drew provides imaginative sound and excellent musical choices. Broiler (Theatre Replacement)

Jerry Wasserman, vancouverplays.com

…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 Monument (Rumble/Felix Culpa)

Jerry Wasserman, vancouverplays.com

Noah Drew’s astonishing sound design doesn’t miss a beat. The League of Nathans (Touchstone Theatre)

Peter Bernie, The Vancouver Sun

Noah Drew’s soundscape—an aural collage of voiceovers, crackling fire, underground explosions and music both Eastern and Western—is extraordinarily layered. Burning Vision (Urban Ink/Rumble Productions)

Jo Leddingham, The Vancouver Courier

…a multi-media event … visual designer Tim Matheson and sound designer Noah Drew deserve huge credit. The Yoko Ono Project (Firehall Arts Centre)

Martin Millerchip, North Shore News

It all happens in Noah Drew’s effective soundscape. Macbeth (Pound of Flesh Theatre)

Colin Thomas, The Georgia Straight

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. Macbeth (Pound of Flesh Theatre)

Jerry Wasserman, vancouverplays.com

…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. The Monument (Rumble/Felix Culpa)

Colin Thomas, The Georgia Straight

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. The Caucasian Chalk Circle (Studio 58)

Jo Leddingham, The Vancouver Courier

Noah Drew’s sound design is as evocative as it gets. Thir$ty (Headlines Theatre)

Straight Choices, The Georgia Straight

Noah Drew scores a soundscape as vast as that prairie sky, as intimate as a cowboy’s lullaby. The Lonely Cowboy (PI Theatre)

Jo Leddingham, The Vancouver Courier