Selected work · 2022
Les Misérables
Northern Light Theatre Company
Musical Director · Conductor · Sound design
The production
An epic, through-composed score realised with a 13-piece orchestra. The musical task was to sustain momentum across a sweeping narrative while protecting the intimacy and clarity of its individual stories.
- Year
- 2022
- Company
- Northern Light Theatre Company
- Role
- Musical Director · Conductor · Sound design
Musical Director's vision
The sound of
Les Misérables
My approach centred on forward motion. The score rarely stops, so transitions, underscoring and sung dialogue all had to carry the drama onward without feeling hurried or denying performers space to breathe.
With a compact orchestra, every colour needed to count. Musical direction and sound design worked together to create breadth, keep the text present and let the score move naturally between private reflection and collective force.
Creative focus
- 01
A cinematic sense of scale from a 13-piece orchestra
- 02
Continuous dramatic pacing across a through-composed score
- 03
Text clarity and vocal support within dense ensemble writing
- 04
Musical direction and sound design developed as one system
In review
What the
critics heard.
“Musical director Matthew Rumley led a 13-piece orchestra to perfection.”
The Barefoot Review