Sound Designer

We are seeking an innovative and experienced Sound Designer to create the sonic identity of the Y Bont International Festival.

The Sound Designer will play a pivotal role in shaping the auditory experience of the festival, developing a cohesive sound world that connects audiences, artists, communities, and places across the weekend programme. Drawing inspiration from the project's international partnerships and community engagement activities, the successful candidate will create an original body of audio work that weaves together voices, stories, languages, and environments from Newport, Rochefort, and Bilbao.

A central element of the role will involve working closely with a commissioned Spoken Word Artist to develop and shape the festival's sonic narrative. Drawing on stories, conversations, oral histories, and community encounters gathered throughout the project, the Sound Designer will collaborate with the artist to transform verbatim material in Welsh, French, Basque, and English into a rich and immersive audio experience.

The successful candidate will be responsible for collecting, curating, and editing field recordings, spoken word material, environmental sounds, and community voices from across the three partner locations. Together with the Spoken Word Artist, they will create an original soundscape and accompanying audio compositions that become a connective thread throughout the festival programme.

Working closely with the Creative Director, Creative Producer, Spoken Word Artist, and commissioned artists, the Sound Designer will develop a flexible body of work that can be experienced across multiple contexts throughout the festival. This sonic material will provide atmosphere and identity for installations and public spaces, underscore live performances and participatory events, support audience journeys across the city, and contribute to the large-scale finale celebrating the reopening of the Newport Transporter Bridge.

The successful candidate will understand how to create work that translates effectively across a variety of listening environments and audience experiences. This may include ambient sound installations, public realm interventions, exhibition environments, live performance underscoring, large-scale outdoor sound systems, processional events, personal listening devices, and audio headset experiences. They will be able to balance artistic ambition with technical practicality, ensuring that the sonic experience remains coherent, impactful, and emotionally resonant regardless of scale or setting.

Accessibility will be a core consideration within this role. The Sound Designer will work closely with accessibility partners, audio description specialists, BSL practitioners, and the wider creative team to ensure that all sound-based experiences are welcoming and accessible to diverse audiences. They will actively contribute to the development of inclusive approaches that consider how sound, language, interpretation, and sensory experience can be integrated into the festival's artistic offer.

As a member of the wider artistic team, the Sound Designer will contribute to the overall dramaturgy of the festival, helping to create continuity, atmosphere, and emotional resonance across multiple sites, events, and audience experiences. They will play a key role in ensuring that sound becomes a connective thread throughout the festival, reinforcing its themes of place, identity, heritage, language, and international exchange.

This is an exciting opportunity for a sound artist or designer who is passionate about storytelling through sound, multilingual collaboration, and the creation of immersive public experiences. We are looking for someone who can transform voices, environments, and histories into a compelling sonic landscape that will define the atmosphere and memory of this landmark cultural event.

Key Responsibilities

• Develop the overarching sonic identity and sound world for the Y Bont International Festival.

• Collaborate closely with the Creative Director, Creative Producer, and commissioned Spoken Word Artist to develop the festival's auditory narrative.

• Collect, record, curate, and edit field recordings, oral histories, environmental sounds, and community voices from Newport, Rochefort, and Bilbao.

• Work with verbatim material in Welsh, French, Basque, and English to create original audio compositions and sound-based experiences.

• Design and produce a cohesive soundscape that can be adapted across multiple festival contexts and locations.

• Create audio content for installations, public spaces, live performances, participatory events, and the festival finale.

• Collaborate with artists, performers, designers, and production teams to integrate sound within the wider artistic programme.

• Ensure sound work functions effectively across a range of delivery formats, including large-scale sound systems, distributed speaker networks, audio headsets, and intimate listening environments.

• Work with accessibility partners, audio description practitioners, and BSL specialists to develop inclusive and accessible audience experiences.

• Contribute to the dramaturgical development of the festival and audience journey.

• Attend planning meetings and collaborate with stakeholders and delivery partners as required.

• Support the technical planning, installation, testing, and delivery of sound elements across the festival.

Essential Criteria

• Significant experience in sound design for outdoor arts, festivals, theatre, installation, site-specific performance, or public realm projects.

• Experience collecting, editing, and composing with field recordings, documentary audio, spoken word, and verbatim material.

• Experience collaborating with writers, spoken word artists, poets, or dramaturgs to create narrative-led audio experiences.

• Strong understanding of sound dramaturgy and the role of audio within live, participatory, and place-based experiences.

• Experience designing work for a variety of listening environments, from intimate headphone experiences to large-scale public events.

• Ability to create cohesive sonic identities that work across multiple artistic formats and locations.

• Experience working collaboratively within multidisciplinary creative teams.

• Knowledge of sound system requirements, audio delivery formats, and technical production processes.

• Commitment to accessibility and inclusive audience experience.

• Experience working with community participants and culturally diverse groups.

• Experience working in Wales and an understanding of Welsh cultural contexts.

Desirable Criteria

• Experience working with multilingual audio content and translation processes.

• Knowledge of Welsh, French, Basque, or other minority languages.

• Experience creating sound work for heritage, placemaking, or public realm projects.

• Experience collaborating with audio description practitioners and accessibility specialists.

• Experience creating immersive audio experiences using headphones, mobile technologies, or spatial audio systems.

• Background in theatre sound design, sound art, composition, radio production, documentary audio, podcasting, or related disciplines.

• Experience working internationally and within intercultural artistic collaborations.