Bobby McElver is a Southern California-based sound designer, composer, and spatial audio artist working with theater, dance, and installation art. A former member of the theatre company The Wooster Group, he has toured internationally for over a decade and presented works in many major cities. He is an Associate Professor and head of the MFA in Sound Design in the Department of Theatre & Dance at UC San Diego. His practice spans installation and experimental theatrical contexts.

As an artist-engineer, McElver’s research focuses on developing new spatial audio technology—specifically Wave Field Synthesis and “sound holograms”—and applying the technology in context of an artistic work.

In 2018, he fabricated a Wave Field Synthesis array with 372 loudspeakers (discrete channels!), based on research at EMPAC, where he was an artist in residence. This is one of the most extensive WFS arrays in the world, allowing him to place sound accurately in 3D space. In 2022 he built an additional 256-ch WFS array for research and development at UC San Diego.

photo by Hana Tobias/UC San Diego Qualcomm Institute

“My process for creating installation work is rooted in curiosity, experimentation, and intuition. I am both an artist and an engineer and I often build my own tools in order to pursue sonic gestures and experiences that conventional sound systems cannot achieve.

WFS is a paradigm-shifting audio tool with potential to change audience’s perceptions of what is possible with sound. This technology is the most exciting and inspiring development in audio that I have encountered in my 20-year career. And I want to use it to help people encounter states of awe, wonder, and transcendence. ”

Representation: Jack Lavey, CPK Artists: jack@cpkartists.com
General inquires: bobbycompose at gmail dot com

Abbreviated CV below. Full CV available upon request

HONORS AND AWARDS

2024 - Helen Hayes award nomination for Outstanding Sound Design for Here There Are Blueberries, by Moisés Kaufman

2024-25 - Production awards for Here There Are Blueberries:

  • Lucille Lortel awards: 5 nominations. Won for Outstanding Play
  • Drama League nomination for Outstanding Production of a Play
  • Outer Critics Circle nomination for Outstanding New Off-Broadway Play
  • Off-Broadway Alliance award nomination for Best Play

2015 - Co-creator of Obie-award winning YOUARENOWHERE by Andrew Schneider

2015 - Bessie award nomination for Outstanding Sound Design/Original Music for The Wooster Group’s Early Shaker Spirituals

SELECTED SOUND DESIGN FOR THEATRE AND INSTALLATION WORKS

Here There Are Blueberries (Theatre production, directed by Moisés Kaufman and Tectonic Theater Project)

  • 2026 Stratford East, London, UK
  • 2026 Seattle Rep, Seattle, WA
  • 2025 Miami New Drama
  • 2025 Berkeley Repertory Theatre, CA
  • 2025 The Wallis, Los Angeles, CA
  • 2025 McCarter, NJ
  • 2024 New York Theatre Workshop, NY
  • 2023 Shakespeare Theatre Company, Washington DC
  • 2022 La Jolla Playhouse, CA

NOWISWHENWEARE (Installation by Andrew Schneider) Co-sound designer and developer of custom Wave Field Synthesis loudspeaker array (400+ individual speakers)

  • 2026 Wales Millenium Centre, Wales, UK
  • 2025 BFI (British Film Institute) London Film Festival
  • 2025 SXSW (South by Southwest festival), Austin, TX
  • 2024 Kohler Arts Center, Sheboygan, WI
  • 2024 On the Boards, Seattle, WA
  • 2023 NYU Abu Dhabi
  • 2023 The Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota
  • 2022 Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM), Brooklyn, NY

ADDITIONAL RECENT SOUND DESIGN

  • 2026 Sound Design + Original Music: Lunar Retreat (Installation/Dance) - Nichole Canuso - FringeArts, Philadelphia, PA

  • 2025 Sound Design + Original Music: Lunar Retreat (Installation/Dance) - Nichole Canuso - Kaatsbaan Cultural Park, NY

  • 2024 Co-creator: YOUARENOWHERE - Andrew Schneider - North Australian Festival of Arts, Townsville, Australia (remount production)

  • 2024 Sound Spatialization and Wave Field Synthesis: La Lontananza Nostalgica Utopica Futura (Immersive music experience) - Luigi Nono, Marco Fusi (violin), Initiative for the Digital Exploration of Arts and Sciences (IDEAS), UC San Diego

  • 2023 Sound Design: The Other Shore (Installation/Dance) - zoe|juniper - University of North Carolina Chapel Hill

  • 2022 Sound Design: The Other Shore (Installation/Dance) - zoe|juniper - On The Boards, Seattle

  • 2022 Sound Spatialization: Circular Dimensions: Microscape (Installation) - Cristopher Cichocki (co-design of spatialization with Jonathan Snipes) - Coachella Music & Arts Festival

WORKSHOPS AND PRESENTATIONS

  • 2025 Presentation: Performance and Technology: Changing the Audience Experience - South by Southwest (SXSW) - Austin, TX
  • 2021 Presentation and Panel Moderation: Innovative Uses of Spatial Audio Technology for Composition and Performing Arts: Wave Field Synthesis and “sound holograms” - Audio Engineering Society, New York, NY

IMPORTANT EARLIER CREATIVE WORKS

With THE WOOSTER GROUP (company member of the theatre troupe from 2011-2016):

  • 2013-2017 EARLY SHAKER SPIRITUALS - A RECORD ALBUM INTERPRETATION (directed by Kate Valk). *Nominated for a Bessie award for Outstanding Sound Design/Original Music. Performances in NYC, Paris, Tokyo, Belgium, San Francisco, and Los Angeles.

  • 2011-2013 VIEUX CARRÉ (directed by Elizabeth LeCompte). Performances in NYC, Brazil, France, Canada, Norway, The Netherlands, Belgium.

  • 2011-2013 HAMLET (directed by Elizabeth LeCompte). Performances in NYC, Brazil, Chile, United Kingdom, Ireland.

With ANDREW SCHNEIDER (theatre/multimedia artist):

  • 2015-2024 YOUARENOWHERE - Co-creator of OBIE-award winning piece by Andrew Schneider. New York Times Critic’s Pick 2015. Performances in NYC, Paris, Australia, Spain, United Kingdom, Czech Republic.
  • 2017-2019 AFTER - Co-creator and sound designer. Featuring a 372-speaker immersive Wave Field Synthesis sound system, the first theatrical use of overhead Wave Field Synthesis. Peformances in NYC and US tours.

Full CV available upon request.