Quentin Chiappetta
Sound Designer
Quentin Chiappetta enjoys an unusually broad career as a composer, sound designer, and recording engineer. He received his formal training at the Eastman School of Music where he received a bachelor’s degree in composition. After moving to New York, Quentin quickly established himself as an innovative and versatile creative partner for a wide of variety of artistic endeavors, from nationally syndicated television shows to musical works accompanying modern dance performances to a growing roster of independent films and documentaries.
His music and sound work have been heard on the Discovery Channel, Bravo, the Sundance Channel, public television stations across the nation, and all the major networks. Recent television projects include scores for the A&E channel’s popular reality shows The First 48 and Detroit SWAT; the Discovery/Times’ Decoding Disaster, for which he created the opening theme music; and the PBS documentary Harold Weston: A Bigger Belief in Beauty, which is also part of the permanent collection of the Adirondack Museum in upstate New York.
Quentin’s music and sound design have been heard at major film festivals, including Sundance, the Hamptons, Chicago, Toronto, Austin, South by Southwest, Silverdocs, Redbank, Brooklyn, New York Experimental, and OutFest. He wrote the score, designed the sound, and prepared the final mix for Fall Before Paradise, a feature that was named Best Film at The Director’s View Film Festival and is currently available on video. Quentin also wrote the score, designed the sound, and prepared the final mix for Transit, a short that won the Audience Award in Provincetown, and was screened at over 30 festivals. His work has been heard at the Tribeca Film Festival in every season of the festival’s existence. His most recent film, The Polymath; the Life and Times of Samuel R. Delaney, Gentleman was shortlisted by the New Yorker, The Village Voice, and The New York Times.
Quentin’s diverse career extends well beyond television and film. He is the recipient of two Innovative Theater Awards—one for music, one for sound design—for Dan Gordon’s Off-Broadway drama, Murder in the First. He has written music and designed sound for plays by writers such as Joyce Carol Oates and David Drake and for companies such as the Director’s Company. He has been commissioned by many notable New York choreographers, with performances in venues such as the Kitchen, Bryant Park, The Joyce, DTW and the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts. Quentin is the recipient of multiple Meet the Composer grants. He has been on the faculties of Marymount Manhattan College and the Martha Graham School. As the music director and composer-in-residence for Cirque Le Masque, an avant-garde touring circus company, he has brought his music to Europe, South America, and across the United States. As a sound engineer, he has recorded, produced and mastered CD’s of music performed by classical pianists, hip-hop artists, avant-garde sound artists, and singers.
Quentin is the sole proprietor of Media Noise, which has served as his base since 2000.