Andrew Wheatley
Andrew is a composer, sound designer, and musician who first learned about the power of joining music and sound with the telling of stories in 2003. He decided to pursue a degree in sound design for the theater. As a student, he honed his skills in design aesthetic and studied to develop his own unique approach to music composition. He also had the opportunity to study for a semester in Ghana, West Africa. His musical influences have included Wynton Marsalis, Charlie Hunter, Bright Eyes, traditional Ghanaian drumming, Chick Corea, Tool, Dream Theater, Bob Marley, Danny Elfman, and many others across a variety of genres.
When Andrew moved to Chicago in 2009, he worked full-time at Steppenwolf Theatre Company as their audio apprentice. He also became involved in outreach programs such as Chicago HOPES, and he currently teaches guitar lessons for elementary students at Asian Youth Services. In addition to composing and producing his own music, Andrew composes, designs, and performs sound for many forms of telling a story, including theatre, film, spoken word, song, and the most ancient art of basic storytelling.
Andrew believes in the power of stories and music to make people question and think. As people question and think, they become more aware. And as awareness grows and assumptions diminish, things change for the good.
Hometown: Great Falls, Montana
Education: Bachelor’s degree in theater design, University of Evansville in Indiana
Interests: Jazz music, food plants, nonfood plants, backpacking and camping, rock climbing, discussing what people are passionate about
Email: AWheatley@digitalyouthnetwork.org
Webpage: www.wheatleysounddesign.com