Brendan Patrick Hogan's work combines practices in composition, sound and media design for theater, dance and film, as well as electronics, programming and show control systems for live and installation/immersive performance. In addition to work with virtually every theatrical and dance company locally, he has taught Sound Design at Cornish College of the Arts, and is a two-time winner of Best Musical Score at the Seattle 48 Hour Film Project. In addition to theatrical work, he performs with Miss Mamie Lavona and The Bad Things.

Hogan began his presentation with a fairly deep dive into the nature of sound design, how a designer works in a collaborative theatrical environment, and what the work of a designer entails, both in terms of systems and technology and in aesthetic terms. He described the dramatic function of sound in the performance context, and introduced some of the terms and concepts used, with particular emphasis on the idea of the "soundscape", the aural twin of the landscape in which any story exists. Going deeper into the area of music for the theatre, he talked about the different functions of music in a typical dramatic production - both in terms of what we think of as Musical Theatre and in productions that use music in incidental or more direct ways.

Brendan also spoke about the styles of working with sound reinforcement in both "straight" dramatic production and musical theatre.

After a short break, two door prizes were presented:

• LED Christmas Tree light/sticker/thing (Courtesy Opus 4 Studios)
• Amprobe Pocket DMM Digital Multi-Meter (Courtesy Rick Rodriguez and Fluke) - Lindsay Smith