Today we’d like to introduce you to Jeffrey Levin.
Jeffrey, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
During high school, I become more and more interested in music, playing instruments but especially music theory. I played in Jazz Band, took AP Music Theory class and after school, I played in very amateur garage rock bands. As I was approaching college, I didn’t consider music a serious career option but a good friend of mine urged me to study music in college since I was obviously passionate about it. But it wasn’t until midway through my freshman year that the passing of my father convinced me to switched majors from business to music composition because I knew that he would have been happy that I was doing something that I truly enjoyed.
I spent five years studying in the Contemporary Classical Composition Department of the Music School at Columbia College. I took way more music classes and credits than I needed to graduate because I loved it so much and wanted to soak up all I could before leaving. I took every music theory class available, became a pianist, studied classical music, studied film scoring, studied electronic music, wrote for ensembles as big as orchestras or for solo instruments, attended and curated hundreds of concerts. I studied with some of the best composers, pianists, music theorists, and musicians in the field and formed friendships and professional bonds that last to this day. This period of my life is undoubtedly the most important time of my development and is responsible for the path that I have taken and where I am today. But so much has happened since then.
Going into my senior year at Columbia College in 2009, I went to see a play at a theatre called Steep Theatre in Edgewater. The play was called ‘In Arabia We’d All Be Kings’. At the time I was not interested in theatre or even knew what Chicago Theatre was about. My concept of a theatre was going on field trips to see Shakespeare in elementary school, it bored me to death at the time. I went to see ‘In Arabia’ because a co-worker and friend of mine was in it and I wanted to support him. We worked together raising money by phone for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Steep Theatre represents truly authentic and completely outstanding theatre in the Chicago storefront style. It is a small space, fitting at most 80 seats, and you are very close to the actors on stage. The experience was so intense, raw, emotional, and completely new to me and I was blown away. I went back to see the play several times. One tradition at Steep is that after every show audience members are encouraged to hang out in the lobby and socialize over wine and snacks with the actors and company members. After one of the performances, I walked up to each actor and thanked them and told them how great I thought the production was. In doing this I found out that one of the actors in the show was about to go into her senior year as a Directing Major in the Theatre Department at Columbia College, which is literally right next door to the Music Department. When she found out I was going into my senior year in the music department she asked if I’d be interested in writing music for her senior project which was directing a play called ‘Mr. Marmalade’. I said yes and the following year I wrote music for that production, which was a very different type of music than what I was writing for my major. I was still serious about classical music but discovered another avenue for which I can apply my skills which were very exciting.
After the ‘Mr. Marmalade’ experience, I started looking for other work in theatre. I found some job postings online and saw that a theatre company in Uptown was looking for a composer/sound designer. At this point, I didn’t really know what a sound designer was or what that job entailed, but I certainly knew how to be a composer. I reached out and interviewed with the company. They were a bit skeptical about hiring me because I had only worked on one theatre project to date but at the same time were very impressed with my classical and film score work, so they hired me. I went on to work on over twenty shows with that company for over 5 years. It was during this time that I stumbled my way through, learning as I went (sometimes, painfully so) what Sound Design is, which can include music composition (and for me it often does) but also so much more. There is a much longer story about this company and my time there which might be better for another interview.
From 2011-2013, I was studying at DePaul University to get my Masters in Music Composition. I had one foot still in Classical Music and the other was stepping deeper and deeper into a theatre. In addition to working for that company in Uptown, I applied to other theatre companies and became recognized for my work by other directors and began working all over the city and my career in theatre was growing. I learned that I was unique in the theatre community for coming from classical music, there weren’t many other sound designers who had the same kind of background. Many other sound designers were actors first who found a better voice offstage, or musicians coming from rock bands, or started out as DJs. Some sound designers do not consider themselves composers at all, which for me is my main identity as a sound designer. We all have overlapping skills but also something uniquely different to offer the craft.
In the years since finishing my degree at DePaul, my career has grown to completely sustain me as a freelance artist. I’ve worked on over 100 productions and dozens of theatre companies in and outside of Chicago. I’ve been recognized with various awards and nominations and have formed close working relationships with theatre companies, directors, actors, and other designers (lighting, scenic, costume, props, projections). I even worked on a show at Steep Theatre company just last year and several projects with the directing major from Columbia College (we’re working together on a show right now!). I feel completely a part of a wonderfully artistic and collaborative community with my own voice making a mark within it.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc. – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Forging your own unique path, especially as a freelance artist, is never going to be a smooth road. There were of course struggles along the way and still are in certain respects. One of the more obvious struggles is the financial stability. As I said, I am able to support myself and live comfortably without any assistance with the work that I do. I feel extremely lucky in that regard. However, I am not living in luxury and there are always certain things that I am just not able to afford. In general, the arts are woefully underfunded and no one gets into this field for the money. Something I’ve become used to but is always a concern is that I can never count on any kind of consistent income. It somehow always works out, but I never know how much money I will be making six months from now.
Other struggles come from learning the craft. Sound Design is such a huge umbrella of different skills and you can never really master all of them but are expected to be at least proficient in most of them. Sound Design can include: composing music, recording music, mixing and producing, creating or sourcing sound effects, creating abstract sounds and atmospheres, field recording, live foley, sound system design, sound engineering, live microphone technique, microphone technique for recording, learning software and keeping up with sound synthesis technology, understanding storytelling, psychology, history, being a good communicator and collaborator, and more. For any project, you may need to access some of these categories but you can’t wait until you’re hired to start learning because there just won’t be time. So you are just expected to know how do to do these things.
Coming from a classical music composition background, in school, I was never expected to know how to design a sound system and connect speakers and other sound equipment together. However, this is such an essential part of sound design. This took a while much trial and error and a lot of aggravation to understand how to just get all the equipment working. Once you understand how everything is connected and how to get sound to come out of the speakers in the correct way, then you can start learning how to take advantage of sound systems to make your designs sound better in whatever space you’re in. It took me many years to get to the point of feeling comfortable walking into any space and knowing how to design, build, and take advantage of a sound system that will make me sound awesome. But there are always more and more complicated systems and different techniques that I’m sure I’ll be learning for as long as I’m doing this work.
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Jeffrey Levin Sound and Music Design story. Tell us more about the business.
I am a sound designer primarily working in the field of theatre with a central identity as a composer with a background in classical music composition. I’m known for creating sound designs that often involve original music as well as many other sounds that ultimately work together to create a unique aural world specific to a particular production. My job is to make an audience forget that they are sitting in a theatre and through sound have them feel like they are fully immersed into the story onstage or in whatever space the story is being told. I elicit specific and visceral emotions, manipulate psychology, lead and mislead, provide details of time and location, and try to leave them with questions and things to think about long after they leave the theatre.
I am a collaborator. My work often only works in conjunction with other brilliant artists. I provide one piece of a puzzle that creates an experience that will stay with you.
Here are some testimonies from theatre critics:
“But the most impressive design element is Jeffrey Levin’s soundscape: encyclopedic in its reach, textured and constantly surprising, it brings unity to the splintered worlds of the text and the story.” – Hector F. Pasqual, Picture this Post, reviews ‘What of the Night’ Cor + Stage Left Theatre
“Jeffrey Levin’s award-worthy sound design and original music which really ascend the heights of shock as if you were seeing a movie and reminding us of how important aural elements can be in theatre” – The Dueling Critics WDCB 90.9 FM, Kelly Kleiman and Jonathan Abarbanel, reviews Steep Theatre’s ‘HOOKMAN’
“Especially when combined with Sound Designer Jeffrey Levin’s soundscape of thunder and nature, the design further highlights the ever-present unsettling feel that surrounds the town” Lauren Katz review of ‘Welcome to Jesus’ at American Theatre Company
“Employing a powerful sound design and original musical score by Jeffrey Levin, along with simple, yet stylish period costumes by Christina Leinicke, this production is both poetic and emotionally charged” | “…the sound and original music (Jeffrey Levin) at times are breathtaking!” – Alan Bresloff and Colin Douglass review ‘Machinal’ Greenhouse Theatre
“…assisted by Jeffrey Levin’s sound design painting an aural picture of an environment well beyond the confines of Eleanor Kahn’s skeletal scaffold-and-wagon scenery.” Mary Shen Barnridge’s review of ‘Her Majesty’s Will’ at Lifeline Theatre
Has luck played a meaningful role in your life and business?
I have no idea. But I do think I’m very lucky to do what I do.
Contact Info:
- Address: 1020 W. Berwyn Ave
Apt. 2
Chicago IL 60640 - Website: www.jeffreylevinmusic.com AND https://soundcloud.com/jeffreylevin
- Phone: 773-852- 3109
- Email: jeffreylevin.music@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jeffreylevinmusic/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jeffreylevin.music
Image Credit:
Photo of me playing keyboard outside by Anna Sodziak
Getting in touch: VoyageChicago is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
