[NEOPAL]Sound Designer/Music Director Josh Senick going to Grad School

[Josh Senick]

Hello everyone,

I've worked with many of you over the past six years in various  
capacities.  I've acted, played in orchestra pits, music directed,  
directed, and sound designed for productions from Bay Village to  
Madison and everywhere in between.  Because of the sheer number of  
people I've worked with, I'm writing this bulk e-mail to NEOPAL (and  
a few other people directly) in hopes that it will reach everyone who  
may be interested in my plans.

After graduating with my BA in Music and Theater from Case in May  
'05, I've been busy doing IT for Case's Music department while taking  
on a limited number of projects on the side.  I started sound  
designing two years ago for Case's theater department, and realizing  
how much I enjoyed the process, have started to focus my energies in  
that area.  This past December I decided to begin looking into MFA  
programs in sound design.

After an exhausting month visiting the five schools I applied to  
(UMKC, NCSA, Univ of Cinci, CalArts, and Yale), I've decided to move  
to Los Angeles in late August to attend CalArts' three-year MFA  
program in sound design.  At CalArts I'll have the opportunity to not  
only design sound and compose for theatrical projects, but films and  
and animation as well.

I am indebted to the Cleveland theater community for providing me  
with many varied projects over the six years I've been here.  Working  
in the Cleveland theaters has alternated between frustrating,  
challenging, and fun, but all the projects I've contributed to have  
been rewarding.  As I began interviewing at grad schools, all were  
impressed with not only the length of my resume, but the various  
kinds of projects I've worked on over such a short period of time.

There are a few people in particular I'd like to thank publicly for  
their support.  I am indebted to everyone at Case, specifically Steve  
McCue for taking a risk and letting me do my first full-scale sound  
design for him, and Ron Wilson for hiring me to continue to design  
for Case after that.  From CIM, I need to thank Marla Berg for her  
amazing vocal instruction (I continue using her tricks in my vocal  
coaching), Anita Pontremoli for taking me on as her student and  
putting up with me all those weeks (months?) I was too busy with  
outside projects to practice my classical piano repertoire, and Steve  
Kohn for teaching me so much about computer audio technology.

In the theater scene, I'm indebted to Tom Meyrose at Huntington  
Playhouse for giving me my first full-size music direction project.   
I'd like to thank Willoughby Fine Arts and Dobama for their  
productions of Missionaries and Highway Ulysses, respectively; those  
two productions pushed my skills to their limits and helped me grow  
considerably as an artist.  I'd like to thank all the actors,  
directors, and musicians I've worked with for all their input and  
hard work.  There are of course many more people who deserve thanks;  
I'll do that in a more private forum.  I've also lost contact with a  
lot of cool people I've worked with.  I'm just an e-mail away, guys.   
Drop me a line and we can hang out before I go.

Because I've focused my attention on grad school admissions, I have  
not booked much work for the summer.  If you're looking for a music  
director, sound designer, sound operator/technician, pianist, vocal  
coach, computer consultant, or any other number of loosely related  
jobs, please feel free to contact me at jsenick at mac.com.  I'll be  
here until the last few weeks of August.

Thanks for everything, Cleveland.  I won't forget the lessons I've  
learned here and the good time's I've had.

Josh Senick