Michael Hooker has designed sound and/or composed music
for more than 120 productions. Most recently, his theatrical
designs have been heard in Pyrenees at the Kirk
Douglas Theatre, Beautiful in the Extreme and A
Shayna Maidel at the Colony Theatre, Molly’s
Delicious at the Group at Strasberg – Marilyn
Monroe Theatre; Drive My Coche, A Line Around
the Block and Conjunto at the Mark Taper Forum
New Work Festival/Taper, Too; and A Doll’s House
at the Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park. His musical compositions
have recently been heard in Sideways Stories from Wayside
School at South Coast Repertory, and Tuesdays With
Morrie at the Rubicon Theatre in Ventura, CA. For UCI,
he designed sound for Railroad and Machiavelli
(UCI Field Station Theatre at the Hayworth).
Prior
to UCI, Michael spent 6 years as Senior Media Designer for
Walt Disney Imagineering (WDI) where he produced sound and
music for Disney theme parks worldwide - including three
newest Disney parks – Hong Kong Disneyland, Tokyo
Disney Sea and Walt Disney Studios - Paris. Some of his
major attractions at WDI are Aladdin’s Magic Lamp
Theatre at Tokyo Disney Sea and Cinemagique
at Walt Disney Studios. He was area lead media designer
for Adventureland at Hong Kong Disneyland and Mermaid Lagoon
at Tokyo Disney Sea. Smaller attractions include two very
popular holiday overlay shows: it’s a small world
very merry holiday and Haunted Mansion Holiday
both at Tokyo Disneyland. He has won two Themed Entertainment
Association (Thea) awards for design work on Tokyo Disney
Sea and Cinemagique.
As
a commercial sound designer, he has worked as sound editor
for Buena Vista Interactive, Way Forward Technologies, Sonic
Desktop Software and Creative Presentations. His musical
arrangements have been heard extensively online at Walt
Disney Parks and Resorts Online.
His educational service spans 16 years. He was Associate
Professor at the University of Cincinnati, College-Conservatory
of Music (CCM) where he created their MFA and BFA programs
in sound design. Prior to CCM he developed and headed the
sound design program at California Institute of the Arts
(CalArts). He also served as faculty at the University of
Arizona – School of Theatre Arts and has been adjunct
lecturer at both Pomona College and at CalArts. He has taught
seminars at North Carolina School of the Arts and the Hong
Kong Academy for Performing Arts.
He
has been actively involved with the United States Institute
for Theatre Technology (USITT) and served as the Sound Commissioner
from 2000 to 2004 and as Co-Commissioner in 2005. He has
chaired 20 sessions since 1996 and has programmed the sound
sessions for all the national conventions since 2000.
Michael
received a BFA in Interdisciplinary Fine Arts from the University
of Arizona and an MFA in Performing Arts Design/Technology
from CalArts.
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