Scott Burgess is an American audio engineer, composer, musician, sound designer, voice over artist, and performer. In the category of Outstanding Sound Design, Resident Production, he is a ten-time nominee and a two-time winner of the

Helen Hayes Award The Helen Hayes Awards are theater awards recognizing excellence in professional theater in the Washington, D.C. area since 1983. The awards are named in tribute of Helen Hayes, who is also known as the "First Lady of American Theatre." They ar ...

.Helen Hayes Awards
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Biography

Burgess was born in Colorado, the son of a United States military man. As a result of his father's assignments, he spent his early childhood in Europe. After his father's retirement from the Army, the family moved to Texas where Burgess did the majority of his growing up. There he discovered music and recording at an early age. Both were introduced to him by his father, a guitar player and reel to reel tape enthusiast. While still in high school Burgess received his radio operators license and worked as a Disc Jockey/On Air Personality at the local radio station hosting the evening "Rock Show". The radio station gave him the opportunity to continue his self-study of recording and audio equipment. Creating commercials and promos there, he learned the basics of professional production audio and developed his instinct for sound effects and music beds. After hours, he recorded himself and his band at the facilities teaching himself tape-to-tape recording, mixing and simple mastering techniques. At this time, he also began his pursuit of learning live engineering and P.A. equipment. After High School, Burgess eventually attended the

University of North Texas The University of North Texas (UNT) is a public research university in Denton, Texas. It was founded as a nonsectarian, coeducational, private teachers college in 1890 and was formally adopted by the state 11 years later."Denton Normal School," ...

from 1982 to 1985 in

Denton, Texas Denton is a city in and the county seat of Denton County, Texas, United States. With a population of 139,869 as of 2020, it is the 27th-most populous city in Texas, the 197th-most populous city in the United States, and the 12th-most populous ...

. While an undergraduate student there, he studied jazz performance and musical composition as well as film and video production.Burgess, Scott (October 26, 2010)
LinkedIn Page
Publisher: LinkedIn During this time, he also continued to record himself and bands using multi-track equipment in an early home "project studio" setting. After college, Burgess played in several working bands performing in local clubs and festivals. In 1990 he moved to New York City where he continued to hone his composition and recording skills. There he began in true his professional composition and recording career having been commissioned to compose scores for dance companies and independent film makers. During this time he also played in several bands as a part of the original Off Wall Street Jam. While in New York he also met actress, future wife and life partner Maia DeSanti. In 1992 they decided to move to Washington D.C. where there was an established music scene and a strong and growing theater community. In Washington DC, he found a home for his skills. He began working in local studios eventually landing a part-time job as an engineer and studio manager. Shortly after that he began working with local theater companies recording and producing original music and sound-scapes for theatrical productions. His original scores and sound designs for theater used complex sequencing and sampling techniques he learned in the studios working with Rap and Hip Hop artists. The designs were often created to comment explicitly on the action of the play, such as risqué movie quotes from John Wayne or the double entendre of Cole Porter's Let's Do It (Let's Fall In Love) for a provocative play such as Psychopathia Sexualis.Horwitz, Jane (September 23, 1997). ackstage Page B.07. Publisher: The Washington Post Burgess has been called The Music Man by

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

because he composes sound designs and film scores based on a wide variety of instruments, influences and sampled sounds.Swisher, Kara (April 8, 1995). ackstage Page B.02. Publisher: The Washington Post In 2004, Burgess composed a film score for the documentary Crucible of War, about a refugee from Yugoslavia haunted by his past who returns to his post-war homeland.Crucible of War
Publisher: Internet Movie Database Burgess continues to compose scores and create sound designs for theater, dance and film. He has also maintained his career as a live engineer and audio systems designer currently serving as head audio and video engineer for the Lang Performing Arts Center at Swarthmore College in the Greater Philadelphia Area. Burgess currently resides in Philadelphia however continues to work in Washington DC and in other regions ranging from Nantucket to Naples Florida.

Helen Hayes Awards

References

* Jones, Kenneth. "Judith Light, Side Show, The Dead Among D.C. Helen Hayes Winners" Publisher:

Playbill 8 May 2001.

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Burgess, Scott American male composers 21st-century American composers Living people Musicians from Washington, D.C. Year of birth missing (living people) University of North Texas College of Music alumni 21st-century American male musicians