Joe Cerqua

Joe Cerqua is a freelance composer, producer, vocalist, and sound designer
He is the Production Supervisor of the Music Department and an adjunct faculty member at Columbia College Chicago teaching Theory I, Sightsinging I & II, and Intro to Music Theory. He has contributed original music to many of the Music and Theater Department's mainstage and studio shows. Most recently, he served as producer/director for Composition Notebook, director for The Ugly Duckling, and musical director for The Wiz and Cabaret. Educated at the American Conservatory of Music and the Art Institute of Chicago, he also teaches master classes in theatrical composition and sound design at Roosevelt University.

Joe recently wrote original music and sound designs for The Fall to Earth at Steppenwolf, where he has previously composed original music and sound for Homebody/Kabul, Wedding Band, Royal Family, Uncle Vanya, and David Copperfield. He was also the musical director/sound designer for SideMan.

Other recent projects include original music and sound for Drawer Boy at Madison Rep.; original music and sound for London Assurance at APT; original music for A Christmas Carol at the Goodman; Homebody/Kabul at the Mark Taper Forum; BAM in New York; and Free Man of Color at Victory Gardens. His music and/or sound designs have been "Jeff" recognized 10 times, and he is also the recipient of four After Dark Awards.

Mr. Cerqua has contributed music to almost every major off-loop theatre in Chicago, including: Steppenwolf, The Goodman, Northlight, Court, Royal George, Apple Tree, The Athenaeum, National Jewish, and Shakespeare Rep. Mr.Cerqua's music has also been heard nationally and internationally in productions at the Alliance in Atlanta; the Met in Los Angeles; Studio Arena in New York; Brooklyn Academy of Music; The Weston Playhouse; and the English Speaking Theatre of Vienna, as well as productions in Australia, Scotland, and Ireland. His scores for Sideman, originally at Steppenwolf; How I Learned to Drive, Master Class, originally at Northlight Theater; and Broken Glass, originally at National Jewish Theatre have all enjoyed national tours. He was a featured composer at the Fringe Festival in Edinborough two years in a row.

Mr. Cerqua is the artistic director/composer-in-residence for the Cerqua Rivera Art Experience, a critically acclaimed thirteen-piece jazz orchestra and ten-member dance company. The musicians that have played on Joe's recordings read like a who's who of nationally known recording artists like Marcos Loya, Johnny Frigo, Orbert Davis, Bobbi Wilsyn, Aisha DeHaas, Liz Carroll, and Regina Taylor to name a few. Mr. Cerqua recently produced Bobbi Wilsyn's CD entitled "It's About Time".

Future projects include original compositions for Twelfth Night at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Copenhagen and Moon for the Misbegotten at Madison Repertory Theatre, Little Women at Seattle Repertory Theatre, A Christmas Carol at the Goodman Theatre, and upcoming concerts with Cerqua Rivera, Orbert Davis, Johnny Frigo, and Corky Siegel.