Deanna H. Choi is a composer and sound designer with a penchant for the playful, the surreal, the absurd, and the imaginative. She composes original music, creates sonic landscapes, and designs sound systems for live theatre, dance, concerts, and installations as well as composing for film and television. She has designed over 150 productions across Canada, the US, and the UK, on stages including the Stratford Festival, Shaw Festival, Mirvish Productions, Soulpepper, Canadian Stage, and many others. As an associate/assistant designer she has worked at the National Theatre in London and the West End. She is equally at home creating experimental work in black boxes and massive spectacles in major venues. She has been featured in conversation twice in the journal Canadian Theatre Review and is the recipient of the Pauline McGibbon Award for Theatrical Design. Deanna has served on numerous artist residencies including with the Canadian Film Centre’s Slaight Music Residency, Necessary Angel, and the Banff Centre. Deanna won two Dora Mavor Moore Awards for co-creating and performing the ‘yellow fever cabaret’ LOVE YOU WRONG TIME, which also toured across Canada.

Fortuitously named after a Star Trek character, Deanna was initially drawn towards a career in the sciences rather than music. Her findings were published in peer-reviewed journals such as Frontiers in Psychology and Neuroplasticity, and her TEDxTalk on music’s effects on the brain has been viewed over 300, 000 times. The study of human perception and behaviour continues to inform her artistic practice, to develop a deeper understanding of storytelling and a relationship with the audience. Her audio company, SPLIT BRAIN SOUND, is named as an ode to the dual conscious and unconscious functions of the brain. 

As a classically-trained violinist, Deanna highlights strings in her work. She won the gold medal in violin performance from the Royal Conservatory of Music. Her background as a performer informs her work to create sound that interacts with actors like another character on stage.

Deanna is committed to teaching sound design, especially in underrepresented communities, and teaches at the National Theatre School of Canada. She is a member of the Associated Designers of Canada (IATSE ADC 659), the Society of Composers and Lyricists, the Screen Composers Guild of Canada, the Canadian Federation of Musicians, and the Association of Sound Design and Production (UK).

In her spare time, Deanna loves running, reading, hiking, and swing dancing. She lives somewhere between London and Toronto.