Emma Present
BFA SOUND DESIGN, 2016
A graduate of the BFA Sound Design program with a Minor in Gender Studies, Emma Present has accrued an impressive resume as a dialogue/ADR editor in Los Angeles. Her first credit post-graduation was as a post-production sound assistant on “Transformers: The Last Knight”. Since then, Emma has lent her talents to dozens of film and television projects, working with major studios such as Sony (“Venom: The Last Dance”, “Saturday Night”, “Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire”), Disney (“Thor: Love and Thunder”, “Black Widow”, “Jungle Cruise”), Paramount (“Scream VI”, “Love and Monsters”), Warner Bros. (“Godzilla vs Kong”, “The Meg”), Universal (“Cocaine Bear”), Lionsgate (“The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes”) and more.
Earlier this year, she received a Primetime Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Sound Editing for a Limited or Anthology Series, Movie or Special as part of the sound team for Netflix’s “All The Light We Cannot See.” Her work as a Dialogue/ADR editor in Marvel’s “Deadpool & Wolverine” can currently be heard in movie theaters all around the country.
Yiran Zhang
MFA SOUND DESIGN, 2018
Yiran Zhang is an audio artist with experience in the fields of theatre production, installation art, games and TV/film post-production. Her design and engineering work has been featured onstage at A.R.T./New York Theatres, the 2019 USITT Expo and New York University. She designed and mixed sound for a production of “Godspell” at Saint Bartholomew’s Episcopal Church in NYC, and created sound effects and music for “Too Many Captains and Not Enough Wire”, an interactive game that was a finalist for the alt.ctrl.GDC Awards at the 2018 Independent Games Festival.
Hidenori Nakajo
MFA SOUND DESIGN, 2010
Hidenori Nakajo is an accomplished sound designer, mixer, and engineer with over a decade of professional experience. Since graduating from CMU’s then-new MFA Sound Design program in 2010, Hidenori has worked on Broadway, national tours, and in regional theaters around the country. Some of the highlights include “OCTET” by Dave Malloy (Berkeley Rep and Signature NYC, Obie Award Special Citation, Drama Desk nom., Lucille Lortel nom., and Henry Hewes Design Awards nom), “Autumn Royal” (Irish Rep, Drama Desk nom.), “Moby Dick” (A.R.T., Elliot Norton Award), “Guys & Dolls” (Guthrie Theatre), as well as associate design work on Broadway’s “Camelot,” “The Kite Runner,” “The Front Page,” “The Lightning Thief,” “Be More Chill,” “Allegiance,” and “Gigi.”
Beyond the world of sound design, Hidenori has worked as a translator/coordinator for visiting Japanese theater companies, such as “One Green Bottle” by Noda Map (La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club), and several other productions for Lincoln Center, including most recently for Ikuko Kiwai & Orchestra Hibiki.
“If you want to study in a very condensed and rich program like a conservatory, but also you want to be surrounded by inspiring colleagues with knowledge, experience, skills and mindset from various fields in a university environment, this program is perfect for you.”
-Hidenori Nakajo
Liz Coleman
BFA SOUND DESIGN, 2004
Liz Sesha Coleman has kept busy since graduating from CMU’s BFA Sound Design program in 2004. As one of only a handful of women working as a sound engineer on Broadway, Liz has committed to helping other women and People of Color gain access to the career through her work with the “Sound Sisters”, an organization that regularly holds networking events for women working in the male-dominated sphere of sound design.
A member of the Theatrical Sound Designers and Composers Association, Liz has several notable audio engineering credits to her name, including the 2014 Broadway production of “Violet”, “The Band’s Visit”, whose sound design team won the Tony Award for Best Sound Design of a Musical in 2018, the most recent revival of “Into the Woods”, “Amelie” and “Allegiance”. In addition, she has mixed several seasons of Encores Off-Center, various galas at New York City Center and a pre-Broadway production of “Monsoon Wedding” in India and Qatar, all while serving as a Lecturer in Sound Design at the Yale School of Drama.
“Carnegie Mellon gave me the foundations of being a creative thinker and a problem-solver, and taught me so many things about the industry.”
-Liz Coleman
Chris Rummel
MFA SOUND DESIGN, 2013
Chris Rummel has had a long career in sound design and music editing both before and after graduating from the School of Drama’s MFA Sound Design program in 2013. After graduating with his BFA in Theater from Syracuse University in 2003, Chris worked as a sound designer in NYC for companies such as the Stella Adler Acting Studio as well as a Master Teaching Artist for Roundabout Theatre Company.
After graduating from CMU, Chris worked as a freelance sound editor and Music Editorial Intern at MICDI Productions, Inc. based in Burbank, CA. Chris currently works as a full-time Music Editor for MICDI as well as the Principal Sound Designer for Rummel Sound Design, providing sound design for theater, film and entertainment.
In 2022, he was nominated for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Sound Editing For A Limited Or Anthology Series, Movie Or Special for his work as music editor on “Gaslit.”
William N. Lowe
BFA SOUND DESIGN, 2020
A 2020 graduate of the School of Drama’s BFA Sound Design program, William Lowe is a Game Audio Designer now based in New York City. He has spent the last four years as a designer/mixer/recording engineer for Clean Cuts Interactive where he has just completed “Asgard’s Wrath 2” with Sanzaru Games, and is the product manager at AVAE for entertainment audio playback, and show control software: Canvas. At CCI he has worked on Lego 2K Drive, WWE2K22, and NBA 2K22 along with film, TV, audio book, and podcast projects. He worked previously at the John F. Kennedy Center, Mainstreet Musicals, Chautauqua Theater Company, Quantum Theater, Philadelphia Fringe, and Capital Fringe.
William recently received the 2024 USITT Rising Star Award, given annually to a young professional working in scenic, lighting, sound, or projection design, or a convergence of these disciplines.
He is currently a lecturer at the David Geffen School of Drama at Yale, teaching a course in Game Audio to MFA Sound Design students.
“Everyone in the sound department at CMU were incredible guides, supporters, and educators.”
-William N. Lowe
