SOUND DESIGN
BIO:
Christopher Peifer (Sound Designer) Sound Design: Much Ado About Nothing (Shakespeare Theatre of NJ), The Immigrant (George Street Playhouse), Intimate Apparel (Shakespeare & Company), Edward the Second (Red Bull Theatre), Yellow Man (MTC); Composer, Sound Designer and Musical Director: Dark Hollow (16th NY Int’l Fringe Fest); Resident Sound Designer: over a dozen productions for BMCC/CUNY at Tribeca Performing Arts Center; assisting Scott Killian: Final Follies (Primary Stages at Cherry Lane), Lost Lake (Berkshire Theatre Group), The Trial of Donna Caine, and Mama’s Boy (George Street Playhouse), Sex with Strangers (GSP and Philadelphia Theatre Company), 8 designs at Westport Playhouse; TV: Mozart in the Jungle (musician); Music: Producer, songwriter (ASCAP), recording artist, touring musician. Website: www.chrispei.com
RECENT:
MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING @ The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey, July 2022
Reviewed: BROADWAY WORLD / ONSTAGE /
George Street Playhouse's "The Immigrant" was named #2 on NJ Arts' Best 12 Theatre Productions of 2019!
Chris is proud to have sound designed with such a brilliant team on this beautiful and memorable production.
MARISOL @ BMCC / CUNY, TRIBECA PERFORMING ARTS CENTER, NYC
THE IMMIGRANT @ GEORGE STREET PLAYHOUSE, NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ
Reviewed: HISTORY NEWS NETWORK / OUT IN JERSEY / BROADWAY WORLD /
BIO / COLLECTED /
LOVE IS A BLUE TICK HOUND @ BMCC / CUNY, NYC
FINAL FOLLIES @ PRIMARY STAGES @ CHERRY LANE THEATRE, NYC
THE TRIAL OF DONNA CAINE @ GEORGE STREET PLAYHOUSE, NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ
Reviewed: COLLECTED /
LOST LAKE @ BERKSHIRE THEATRE GROUP, STOCKBRIDGE, MA
Reviewed: BERKSHIRE EAGLE / CRITICS AT LARGE / BERKSHIRE BRIGHT FOCUS / BERKSHIRE ON STAGE /
INTIMATE APPAREL @ SHAKESPEARE & COMPANY, LENOX, MA
Reviewed: BERKSHIRE ON STAGE / THE ALT / THE VALLEY ADVOCATE / THE WALL STREET JOURNAL / ATTICUS REVIEW / BERKSHIRE FINE ARTS / HISTORY NEWS NETWORK / BROADWAY WORLD / CURTAIN UP / THE BERKSHIRE EDGE /
SELECTED THEATRICAL sound desigN
Much Ado About Nothing Eleanor Holdridge / with Scott Killian The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey
The Immigrant Jim Jack / with Scott Killian George St Playhouse, New Brunswick, NJ
Marisol Alkis Papoutsis BMCC, Tribeca Performing Arts Ctr, NYC
Why We Fight Original Music Crux Encounter, Redwood Theatre, Toronto, ON
Final Follies David Saint / with Scott Killian Primary Stages, Cherry Lane Theatre, NYC
The Trial of Donna Caine David Saint / with Scott Killian George St Playhouse, New Brunswick, NJ
Love is a Blue Tick Hound Keith Winsted BMCC / CUNY, NYC
Lost Lake Daisy Walker / assistant to Scott Killian Berkshire Theatre Group, Stockbridge, MA
Intimate Apparel Daniela Varon Shakespeare & Company, Lenox, MA
The Arsonists Alkis Papoutsis BMCC, Tribeca Performing Arts Ctr, NYC
Almost, Maine Katherine Kavanagh Borough of Manhattan Community College
Mama's Boy David Saint / with Scott Killian George St Playhouse, New Brunswick, NJ
What the Butler Saw John Tillinger / assistant to Scott Killian Westport Country Playhouse, CT
Sex with Strangers David Saint / assistant to Scott Killian Philadelphia Theatre Company
Sex with Strangers David Saint / assistant to Scott Killian George St Playhouse, New Brunswick, NJ
Measure for Measure Diane Dowling BMCC, Tribeca Performing Arts Ctr, NYC
DNA Lori Kee Borough of Manhattan Community College
Bedroom Farce John Tillinger / assistant to Scott Killian Westport Country Playhouse, CT
The Legion David Kinniburgh The Orphans, Gene Frankel Theatre, NYC
The Fairy Tale Project Lori Kee BMCC, Tribeca Performing Arts Ctr, NYC
In Thunder, Lighting, in Rain Kristina Birk The Orphans, Players Theatre, NYC
Things We Do For Love John Tillinger / assistant to Scott Killian Westport Country Playhouse, CT
A Doll’s House Diane Dowling BMCC, Tribeca Performing Arts Ctr, NYC
The Misanthrope Alkis Papoutsis BMCC, Tribeca Performing Arts Ctr, NYC
Dark Hollow Alkis Papoutsis NY Int’l Fringe Fest / Theatre 80, NYC
Life’s a Dream Diane Dowling BMCC, Tribeca Performing Arts Ctr, NYC
1936 Project Alkis Papoutsis Borough of Manhattan Community College
Side Effects (premiere) David Auburn / with Scott Killian MCC, Lucille Lortel Theatre, NYC
The Gogol Project Shawna Lucey Borough of Manhattan Community College
Las Meninas Daniela Varon / assistant to Scott Killian Barnard College (Columbia U), NYC
Woyzeck Alkis Papoutsis BMCC, Tribeca Performing Arts Ctr, NYC
Children John Tillinger / assistant to Scott Killian Westport Country Playhouse, CT
Children John Tillinger / assistant to Scott Killian Williamstown Theatre Festival, MA
How the Other Half Love John Tillinger / assistant to Scott Killian Westport Country Playhouse, CT
Steve and Idi Eleanor Holdridge /assistant to Scott Killian Rattlestick Theatre, NYC
The Time of My Life John Tillinger / assistant to Scott Killian Westport Country Playhouse, CT
Edward the Second Jesse Berger Red Bull Theatre, Playwrights Horizons NYC
The Wars assistant to Scott Killian Theatre Calgary, AB, Canada
Relatively Speaking John Tillinger / assistant to Scott Killian Westport Country Playhouse, CT
A Doll’s House assistant to Scott Killian Juilliard at Lincoln Center, NYC
Hamlet assistant to Scott Killian Berkshire Theatre Fest, Lenox, MA
Drawer Boy John Tillinger / assistant to Scott Killian Westport Country Playhouse, CT
Defiance (premiere) Doug Hughes/assist. to David Van Tieghem Manhattan Theatre Club, NYC
The Other Side (premiere) Lynne Meadow / assistant to Scott Killian Manhattan Theatre Club, NYC
Humble Boy assistant to Christopher Shutt Manhattan Theatre Club, NYC
Yellowman Blanka Ziska / Elliot Sharp, composer Manhattan Theatre Club, NYC
SOUND DESIGN SAMPLES & ORIGINAL MUSIC FOR THEATRE:
Anatomy of a sound design: Process and samples from “The Immigrant” @ George Street Playhouse, Spring 2019, directed by Jim Jack, co-sound design with Scott Killian. Click photos for description:
Prologue to George Street Playhouse’s production of “The Immigrant”: Of course context is everything, from the staging with live actors, to the space, surrounded by speakers. This audio sample is an approximation of the opening sequence, before a single word is uttered, heard onstage alongside projections, lighting, and live action, consisting of 25 different sounds (original music, voice overs, sound effects … ), spread out over a dozen called sound cues. We follow the journey of our protagonist from persecution in the Russian pogroms, to his escape, and arduous voyage to America. Bookended by plucked string instruments, the balalaika evokes the old world, while the guitar represents the new. These voices wrestle and intermingle throughout the play.
Original transistion music, co-written and performed with Todd Giudice, for the Fall 2018 production of “Love is a Blue Tick Hound” @ BMCC / CUNY, directed by Keith Winsted, evoking love, loss, longing, and hope on the Mississippi Delta:
Original music for "Dark Hollow: An Appalachian Woyzeck", adapted by Elizabeth Chaney, directed by Alkis Papoutsis, at the 16th NY International Fringe Fest, this all-acoustic cinematic journey conjures Appalachia, and channels the ghosts of The Civil War; at times reveling, pensive, mournful, drunken and romantic; a murder ballad come to life ...
Listen to versions of these songs with vocals, accompanied by production stills ...
PROJECTS:
New York Botanical Gardens, self-guided audio tour app.
NYC House Concerts, showcasing some of NYC’s top classical soloists and ensembles.
Raids of New York, an investigative documentary, featured on The Nation.
Chris is a contributing member of FreeSound.org, an international community of sound artists and researchers, creating, capturing and sharing a vast database of recorded sound.
Chris contributes sound to The Nod, a new podcast from Gimlet Media, co-hosted by Brittany Luse and Eric Eddings who gleefully explore all the beautiful, complicated dimensions of Black life.
Sound design and audio post for "Harv", WINNER, Greenwich Village Portraits category, 2017 Greenwich Village Film Festival. WINNER, Best Documentary, 2018 Inwood Film Festival.
PRODUCTION WORK:
• Principal, Recording Engineer and Producer, Garageland NYC Recording Studio, 2007-present
• Production Manager and Lighting Coordinator, Sounds Like Art, New York City, 2006-present
• Production Manager, APAP at New York City Center, 2013-present
• Production and Stage Manager, Bang on a Can Festival, Brooklyn, NY and MassMoCA, North Adams, MA, 2022-present
• Interim Production Manager and Technical Director, Irish Arts Center, New York City, 2015
• Sound Programmer and Engineer, Manhattan Theatre Club, New York City, 2000-2006
• Freelance Sound Programmer & Engineer, Light Board Operator & Electrician, Stage Manager, NYC, 1997-