Sound Design – Mark Grey

AVAILABLE LIGHT
Lucinda Childs, one of the most celebrated choreographers of the modern era, revives her seminal 1983 collaboration with composer John Adams and architect Frank Gehry
Previews at MassMOCA, North Adams, MA / March 2015
Premiere: Walt Disney Concert Hall, June 2015
Toured worldwide

EL PASADO
Lyric Opera of Chicago – March 2015

IOLANTA / BLUEBEARD’S CASTLE
Met Opera – January 2015 and HD simulcasts
Valery Gergiev, conductor
Starring Anna Netrebko, Piotr Beczala, Nadja Michael, Mikhail Petrenko and others

THE MERRY WIDOW
Met Opera – December 2014, New Year’s Eve Gala and HD simulcasts
Sir Andrew Davis, conductor
Starring Renée Fleming, Nathan Gunn, Kelli O’Hara, Alek Shrader, Thomas Allen and others

ST. MATTHEW PASSION
Park Avenue Armory, NYC – October 2014
Berliner Philharmoniker/Simon Rattle/Peter Sellars

THE PASSENGER
Houston Grand Opera at the Park Avenue Armory – July 2014

Notes on camp, Parterre.com, 7/12/14

Houston Grand Opera delivers powerful experience with “The Passenger”, New York Classical Review, 7/11/14
“Breedt, Moore and Kaduce have full, shining voices. They sang with excellent articulation and beautiful sound.”

What Lies Beneath: A Haunting Nazi Past, The New York Times, 7/11/14

The Grand Illusion, The Greater Horror, ConcertoNet.com

THE SOUND OF MUSIC
Lyric Opera of Chicago – April 2014

The Sound Of Music Is Alive At Lyric Opera, The Chicagoist, 4/29/14

Sumptuous Sights and Sounds Make “The Sound of Music” Thrilling at Lyric Opera of Chicago, Broadway World, 4/28/14
“Bruni, Fisher and Yeargan have executed an opera-house version of the show (with impeccable sound design by Mark Grey)…”

This is ‘Sound of Music’ on a grand scale, with a lovely Maria, Chicago Tribune, 4/28/14

A glorius new production of The Sound of Music by the Lyric Opera, Chicago Now, 4/28/14

Sound of Music Review – The Lyric Opera of Chicago Production is Brilliant, LA Splash Magazine, 4/28/14

‘Sound of Music’ at Lyric: When opera meets B’way, the hills come alive – and hearts, too, Chicago on the Aisle, 4/28/14

OFFBEAT: Chicago Lyric’s ‘Sound of Music’ an oppulent ovation, NWI Times, 4/28/14
“The flowing costume designs by Alejo Vietti in her Lyric debut paired with lighting design by Duane Schuler and sound design by Mark Grey complete this feast for the eyes and ears.”

Supersized Sound of Music perfect for Chicago families, Chicago Parent, 4/28/14

Opera Review: Lyric’s “The Sound Of Music”, BTSCELEBS, 4/27/14

OKLAHOMA!
Lyric Opera of Chicago – May 2013

Review: Grand staging for ‘Oklahoma’ in the hands of Lyric Opera, Chicago Tribune, 5/5/13

Lyric Opera of Chicago is getting miked for Oklahoma!, ChicagoReader.com, 5/2/13
“…The kudos should go to sound designer and composer Mark Grey, the whiz behind the technology. Longtime soundman for composer John Adams (and many others), Grey is the guy who made Lyric shake for Doctor Atomic. His own composing commissions include a soon-to-be-written opera version of Frankenstein, which maybe we’ll get to see at Lyric someday.

Grey says amplified sound tends to be “two-dimensional,” while the sound of a traditional opera is wider, broader, and, at the same time, more intimate. But even for opera, he adds, the way we listen is changing. Things like the Metropolitan Opera simulcasts to movie theaters are delivering sound that’s different from what’s being heard in the opera house; younger audiences are accustomed to the clarity of digital; and contemporary composers are incorporating the vast, electronic soundscape.

“I think technology will play a huge part on the opera stage. We’re at the forefront,” Grey says. “But in a case like Oklahoma!, we want to keep it as natural as possible.”

SHOW BOAT
Houston Grand Opera – January 2013

SHOW BOAT
Lyric Opera of Chicago

The curtain will rise on a richly detailed vision of that bygone era when Show Boat docks for the first time at Lyric. The sumptuous new production, staged by Francesca Zambello and conducted by John DeMain, promises to delight your eyes and ears. The sensational cast includes Broadway star Ashley Brown; Lyric favorite Nathan Gunn; three more operatic luminaries – Alyson Cambridge, Morris Robinson, and Angela Renée Simpson; and some of Chicago’s most gifted actors.

For Zambello, musical theater is American opera. “With it we have forged something as popular as opera was in the 19th century. Opera and musical theater can live harmoniously in our American theater and opera-house landscape. Show Boat gives us a rich study in opera, operetta, vaudeville, and musical comedy, but – equally important – a compelling American story of social and political importance.

OTHELLO

Evoking the past pioneers of electronic music, musique concrete, and music of the avant-garde, Mark Grey created a dramatic new sonic score and design for Peter Sellars’ markedly innovative production of Shakespeare’s Othello, starring Philip Seymour Hoffman (Iago) and John Ortiz (Othello). His all-electronic “symphonie mecanique” score for Othello uses an elaborate surround-sound environment to transport theatre audiences through colorful and complex sonic worlds into the haunting world of Shakespeare’s timeless tale of jealousy and betrayal. The work premiered at the Wiener Festwochen (Vienna, Austria) in June 2009, then proceeded to the K15 Festival in Bochum, Germany. Othello was also staged from Sept. 12-Oct. 4, 2009, at the Public Theater in New York City.

Videos: Othello in the Age of Obama Pt 1 | Othello in the Age of Obama Pt 2 | Philip Seymour Hoffman interview

Alban Berg’s LULU
Wiener Festwochen, Vienna, Austria – June 2010

Other Projects

Sound Designer for Dracula
Music by Philip Glass
Performed by Kronos Quartet, Philip Glass and Michael Riesman
Toured worldwide

“It’s no surprise that some of Philip Glass’s most inspiring projects have been multimedia. The composer’s minimalist tendencies lend themselves to the accompaniment of vast landscapes, silent films, and–now–Tod Browning’s 1931 horror classic, Dracula. With longstanding collaborators the Kronos Quartet performing the score, Glass has created a soundtrack that moves with rapid-fire momentum and a timeless chamber-music feel. Dracula never sounds sinister or ironic, just ominous–the perfect companion to a film with plenty of dialogue but no pre-existing score.” ~Amazon.com

Sound Designer for Ainadamar
Music by Osvaldo Golijov
Stage Director Peter Sellars
Dawn Upshaw, Kelley O’Connor, Jessica Rivera
Lincoln Center Festival – The Passion of Osvaldo Golijov, 2006

Sound Designer for Ayre
Music by Osvaldo Golijov
Dawn Upshaw and The Andalucian Dogs
Lincoln Center Festival – The Passion of Osvaldo Golijov, 2006

Sound Designer El Niño (A Nativity Oratorio)
Critically acclaimed staged work with director Peter Sellars and soprano Dawn Upshaw, mezzo soprano Lorraine Hunt Liberson and baritone Willard White. Venue locations include Chatelet in Paris (world premiere), San Francisco Symphony at Davies Hall in California (American premiere), Lincoln Center in New York City, Barbican Center in London, Australia, Greece, Germany, Italy and Netherlands.

El Niño (A Nativity Oratorio)
Vocal Recording Engineer for Nonesuch Records
Soprano Dawn Upshaw, mezzo soprano Lorraine Hunt Liberson and baritone Willard White.

Hoodoo Zephyr
Recording engineer (1992)
Electra/Nonesuch Records, CD-79311-2

Alleged Dances
Kronos Quartet and live electronic sounds
Sound designer for production, electronic loop engineer at Skywalker Ranch, California
Electra/Nonesuch Records, CD-79465-2

Ceiling/Sky
Technical and co-recording engineer
Organized and recorded Avanti! musicians in Helsinki (December 1996), final mix at Skywalker Ranch (June 1997)
Electra/Nonesuch Records, CD-79473-2

Ceiling/Sky
Opera Tour – Sound Engineer and Assistant Sound Designer for the opera
Eight month tour included Cal Performances (Berkeley), Festival De Theatre Des Ameriques (Montreal), Lincoln Center (NewYork), Edinburgh Festival (Scotland), Helsinki Festival (Finland), MC93 Bobigny (Paris, France), and Hamburg (Germany)

John Adams/Ensemble Modern Tour
Large orchestra tour
Co-sound designer and technical engineer for U.S. tour that included the Kennedy Center, Lincoln Center (Alice Tully Hall), Chicago Orchestra Hall, Penn State Univ., Williams Center (Easton, PA), and University of Michigan

Sound Designer and Engineer for Kronos Quartet
Work in close contact with many composers, performers and orchestras. Design sound reinforcement systems, install sound systems on location, and mix house sound (FOH) during performances. Tour locations have included Austria, Canada, China, England, France, Germany, Israel, Italy, Lithuania, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Russia, Scotland, Spain, Turkey and most states within the U.S. Recent projects include Sound Designer for Dracula, The Music and Film. Kronos Quartet, Philip Glass and Michael Riesman tour/perform the original Philip Glass score to the 1931 film Dracula, starring Bela Lugosi. website

Sound Designer and Synthesizer/Sampler Technician for Boosey & Hawkes Music Publishers, Inc.
Working as the only worldwide technical consultant for Boosey & Hawkes. Sound design and synthesizer/sampler design for productions performing Boosey composers, for example: John Adams, Steve Reich, Jacob Druckman, Iannis Xenakis, and Michael Torke. Prepare technical packages, format and program synthesizer/sampler software, and work with presenters to produce respective composers’ work. A very few of the production organizations include: Russian National Orchestra, Edinburgh Festival, Lincoln Center/NY Philharmonic, LA Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony, London Sinfonietta, London Symphony Orchestra, Schönberg Ensemble, Ensemble Modern, Present Music Ensemble, Eos Ensemble, Finnish National Orchestra, Nürnberg Opera, Wiener Staatsoper, Festival de Radio France, London Royal Ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet, Brooklyn Academy of Music, Bolkham Symphony Orchestra, Tallinn Philharmonic and Chorus (Estonia), and most large symphonic orchestras throughout the United States and Europe. website

Sound Designer for Peter Eotvos’ stage version of Angels in America
Theatre du Chatelet, Paris, 2004

Review: Angels in America, The Guardian, 11/26/04

Electronic Music & MIDI Specialist for Paul Dresher Ensemble
Technical consultant designing and executing large live electronic music environments for performances and recordings. The Paul Dresher Ensemble includes up to eight musicians each with an extensive electronic music workstation environment. Work involves preparing musicians’ environments for new works and archiving older compositions. Work with commissioned composers to help design their compositional visions. website

JOHN ADAMS @ 70

Sound designer, recording and production engineer, synthesizer/sampler programmer, technical coordinator, and archivist for one of the most prolific composers of our time. Coordinate technical information for ensembles and orchestras worldwide. Prepare presenters with the necessary materials (such as sound design packages and synthesizer/sampler design packages with software) as to create a specific production standard when performing the music of John Adams. website

GIRLS OF THE GOLDEN WEST
San Francisco Opera – World Premiere – November 2017

DOCTOR ATOMIC
BBC Symphony Orchestra – April 2017

ABSOLUTE JEST
New York Philharmonic – March 2017

OTHER MARY
Theater Bonn, Bonn, Germany – March 2017

OTHER MARY
St. Louis Symphony – March 2017

NIXON IN CHINA
Los Angeles Philharmonic – February 2017

OTHER MARY
San Francisco Symphony – February 2017

OTHER MARY
Berlin Philharmonic – January 2017

OTHER JOHN ADAMS SOUND DESIGN PROJECTS

NIXON IN CHINA
Royal Swedish Opera – October 2016

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO THE OTHER MARY
English National Opera – November 2014

The Gospel According to the Other Mary review – a mesmerising aural world, The Guardian, 11/29/14

The Gospel According to the Other Mary review – the Bible to Skid Row, The Guardian, 11/23/14

The Gospel According to the Other Mary, ENO, review: ‘humbling’, The Telegraph, 11/22/14

THE DEATH OF KLINGHOFFER
Met Opera – October 2014

Met Opera’s ‘Death of Klinghoffer’ is a compassionate feat, Los Angeles Times, 10/21/14
“… superbly subtle amplification by Mark Grey”

Distress at Sea, and Offstage: ‘The Death of Klinghoffer,’ at the Metropolitan Opera, The New York Times, 10/21/14

The verdict(s) on “Klinghoffer:” a review roundup, Washington Post, 10/22/14

Long Wake: “The Death of Klinghoffer,” at the Met, The New Yorker, 11/3/14

EL NIÑO – A NATIVITY ORATORIO
London Philharmonic – December 14, 2013

Review: El Niño, Royal Festival Hall, London, The Financial Times, 12/16/13
“This exemplary concert performance by the London Philharmonic Orchestra under its principal conductor, Vladimir Jurowski, felt very different. Adams’s chugging, minimalist rhythms were perfectly sprung; and everywhere the sound-world was of brilliant clarity, sparkling with the glitter of tuned percussion, and rising at its climaxes to textures that were positively rapturous. Where the original cast had drawn emotions from the earth, here we had the radiance of light and air.”

El Niño, London Philharmonic Orchestra and Choir, Jurowski, Royal Festival Hall, TheArtsDesk.com, 12/15/13
“John Adams’ millennial conflagration of musical poems about childbirth, destruction and the divine made manifest not only served as a seasonal farewell and a transcendent epilogue to the Southbank’s year of 20th-century music The Rest is Noise; it also stood pure and proud as a masterpiece.

…Were they and the other singers miked? That I couldn’t always be sure is the highest compliment to whatever role Mark Grey’s sound design may have played.”

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO THE OTHER MARY
Los Angeles Philharmonic – March 2013

Review: Applause in Unlikely Places: A Conductor Who Rewrites the Rules, The New York Times, 3/29/13

Review: ‘Gospel According to the Other Mary’ emerges reborn, Los Angeles Times, 3/8/13
“There was further help from Mark Grey’s amplification, which highlighted the vocal essence of each singer and provided an ideal balance with the orchestra.”

I WAS LOOKING AT THE CEILING AND THEN I SAW THE SKY
Théâtre du Châtelet – June 2013

NIXON IN CHINA
BBC Proms and Berlin Philharmonie – September 2012

Review: Nixon in China, The Guardian, 9/6/12
“The much-anticipated Proms performance of John Adams’s Nixon in China, conducted by the composer himself and directed by Paul Curran, marked the 25th anniversary of the work’s groundbreaking premiere. Arguably the most influential opera of the last few decades, it has lost none of its power and remains Adams’ finest stage work. And though the events it depicts might no longer seem like recent history to some, its analysis of the relationships between personal and political integrity, and between ideological sincerity and fanaticism, has, if anything, gained greater relevance with time…”

NIXON IN CHINA
San Francisco Opera – June 2012

Review: ‘Nixon in China,’ S.F. Opera, review: Imaginative, San Francisco Chronicle, 1/11/12
“The last time Bay Area audiences heard John Adams’ ‘Nixon in China’ was in 1987, in an unstaged reading in Herbst Theatre with piano accompaniment that scarcely hinted at the work’s depth and originality. On Friday night, a mere quarter-century later, the San Francisco Opera corrected that oversight with a suave, imaginative and superbly sung production…Welcome home, Mr. Nixon. It’s been too long.”

NIXON IN CHINA
Metropolitan Opera – February 2011

THE DEATH OF KLINGHOFFER
English National Opera – September 2011

EL NIÑO
Edinburgh Festival, Scotland – August 2010
San Francisco Symphony – December 2010

A FLOWERING TREE
Los Angeles Philharmonic – May 2009

Grey is the sound designer for John Adam’s A Flowering Tree, which was performed by the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and conducted by John Adams, on May 15, 2009, at Walt Disney Concert Hall. The piece, directed by Peter Sellars, premiered in New York on Aug. 13, 2009, as part of the Mostly Mozart Festival at Lincoln Center.

DR. ATOMIC
San Francisco Opera – premiered in October 2005
Other performances include Netherlands Opera (June 2007), Chicago Lyric Opera (December 2007), and Metropolitan Opera (October 2008, part of the MetHD series).

“Purely as an experience in sound, the Met’s ‘Atomic’ was a triumph.” ~Alex Ross, The New Yorker

“The results are ethereal, arresting and, in the words of General Manager Peter Gelb, ‘make the Metropolitan Opera shake as it has never before.'”

ON THE TRANSMIGRATION OF SOULS
Winner of the Pulitzer Prize in Music as well as three Grammy Awards
Commissioned by the N.Y. Philharmonic in 2002, in memory of the September 11, 2001 attacks
Concert halls have included Avery Fisher Hall (New York City), Royal Albert Hall (London), Sydney Opera House Concert Hall (Sydney, AUS) and the Concertgebow (Amsterdam)