Richard Kenneth Thomas (aka Zounds, Zounds Productions) is an early practitioner/advocate for theatre sound and composition for live theatre. He began his career at his recording studio, Zounds Productions, which he founded and co-owned with

Brad Garton Brad Garton (born 1957) is an American composer and computer musician who is professor of music at Columbia University. He has written, or helped to write, a number of computer music applications, including Real-Time Cmix, music synthesis and si ...

in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Zounds Productions produced among many other bands, legendary punk band

Dow Jones and the Industrials Dow Jones and the Industrials were a new wave band from West Lafayette, Indiana, from 1979 until 1981. During this time, they released a split LP with the Gizmos, entitled "Hoosier Hysteria", and a self-titled 7-inch EP, both released in the year ...

. He advocated for sound and composition as full members of the theatre creative team through his long relationship with the United States Institute for Theatre Technology, for which he was made a Fellow and Awarded the Joel E. Rubin Founder's Award in 2008, and awarded the Distinguished Achievement Award for Sound Design. He published many early articles on theatre sound design and composition in the Theatre Design and Technology Journal dating back to 1988. He has published two books, one a biography of legendary Broadway Sound Designer

Abe Jacob Abe John Jacob (born October 7, 1944) is an American sound designer and audio engineer. Called the "Godfather of Sound", Jacob greatly influenced the design of sound reinforcement in modern musical theatre, and was one of the first persons credi ...

, ''The Designs of Abe Jacob,''and ''Music as a Chariot'', for Routledge, a philosophical treatise on theatre as a type of music, specifically, music to which ideas have been attached and conveyed through mimesis. He has explored his theories on theatre as a type of music in a series of original productions that include ''Choices'' which was performed at World Stage Design in Taipei, Taiwan, and included as part of the US National Exhibition at the 2015

Prague Quadrennial Held in Prague once every four years since 1967, the Prague Quadrennial of Performance Design and Space or Prague Quadrennial is the world's largest event in the field of scenography, consisting of a competitive presentation of contemporary work in ...

, ''Ad Infinitum³'', which performed at the 2011

, and subsequently at the 2013 opening of the Qualcom Institute at the

University of California, San Diego The University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego or colloquially, UCSD) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in San Diego, California. Established in 1960 near the pre-existing Scripps Insti ...

, and ''Labcoats on Clouds'', which performed at the 2007

. His explorations in theatre as a type of music evolved largely out of the dozens of productions for which he composed sound scores over his nearly forty-year career as professional composer and sound designer. Thomas is a full professor of Visual and Performing Arts at

Purdue University Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donated land and money ...

, where he has been honored many times including winning the 2017-2018 Purdue Liberal Arts Discovery Excellence Award for Creative Art, being named a Purdue Legacy Artist in 2010, and awarded The George P. Murphy Award for Outstanding Teaching in 2008.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thomas, Richard K. 1953 births Living people American sound designers Purdue University faculty

See also

References