About Craig Sengelow

ABOUT

My starting point on any project is always the story. Before a note is written I work to understand the emotional world of the production, what it needs to feel like, where the music should lead the audience and where it should get out of the way. That process shapes everything, from the instrumentation and palette through to the smallest musical detail.

This approach runs through all my work, from my eight short films, including the Oscar-nominated Two Cars, One Night (directed by Taika Waititi) and Ouch, which was nominated for multiple awards and screened at film festivals in New Zealand, Italy, France, and Greece, to my productions for stage and dance.

My work for stage includes music and sound design for Wonderlight Theatre Aotearoa's children's productions The Home Inside and Wonderkind, and Ranterstantrum at the New Zealand Festival of the Arts. I was named Sound Designer of the Year at the Wellington Theatre Awards for Have Car Will Travel, and received a further nomination for One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. Other stage credits include a remix of Mozart for New Zealand Opera's production of The Marriage of Figaro, and collaborations with choreographer Merenia Gray — including Te Mana, which toured nationally.

Outside my work for screen and stage, I also record and produce under my own name and as the IO Project, and produced Fading Light, the debut album of Wellington rock band Halcyon Drift. You can hear my other work on Spotify, Bandcamp, and SoundCloud.

I hold a Master of Music (Composition) from Victoria University of Wellington, where I studied under Ross Harris, Jack Body, David Farquhar, and John Young, and won multiple awards including the Wellington City Council Music Prize.

To discuss music for your next project, get in touch using the contact form below

Wellington, New Zealand

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Craig Sengelow