Melanie Chen Cole

Melanie Chen Cole (she/her/hers) is a sound designer who has experience recording and mastering voiceovers, working with body microphones, mixing musicals, and creating sound designs for live theatre and dance productions. She is most interested in creating soundscapes that highlight and support the story being told on stage. She also plays the piano and flute.

Melanie began her undergraduate journey as a Physiology and Neuroscience major at UC San Diego and a minor in music. Upon completing an introduction to theatre design course in her third year, she was determined to be involved in this creative community. She assisted La Jolla Playhouse Sound Supervisor and Finest City Improv artist Joe Huppert in a school production. Soon after that, she became a theatre minor. Melanie has a Bachelor degree from University of California, San Diego in Interdisciplinary Computing and the Arts program in the Music and Visual Arts.

She received a MFA degree for sound design in 2014 from the department of Theatre & Dance at the same university, studying under composer and sound designer Shahrokh Yadegari. She teaches Intro to Sound Design at UC San Diego.

When not designing shows, Melanie enjoys going to the beach, hiking, learning about photography, and watching TV shows with her husband Ben while cuddling with their cat Wendy.

Melanie is a proud member of USA 829 and a board member of TSDCA.