Special Thanks to Jon from the Editorial Team:  

All of us working on Volume 2 would like to thank Jon for volunteering his time and his expertise to ensure the sound quality on all of the video and audio tape submissions was both consistent and audible, and for merging the multiple short recordings into one recording for each participant.   Jon Halliwell 

I got into the technical side of shows early on, at around age 12. I’m not sure what drew me in but something did. I remember working the lights for a grade school show and helping out behind the scenes at an amateur theatre company where my sister was performing.

I was on the high school tech crew, where we formed strong social bonds with one another. We learned about the technical work we were doing, but this experience was also important in teaching me about schedules, responsibilities (individual and group), and communications, among other life lessons. 

I thought about working in a few different careers after high school but I kept coming back to being a show technician. I worked in the theatre at Canada’s Wonderland for two seasons and then at the National Ballet School for six months. Nonetheless, I then decided to study Biology at the University of Guelph which was a great experience. But, when I needed a part-time job, I fell in with the University tech crew. Our main activity was concerts, so I started setting up sound systems and mixing sound which I am still doing today.

I’ve worked as a sound engineer for almost 30 years now and have toured around the world with many artists, including Michael Bublé, Leonard Cohen, Prince, and Feist. 

Over the past few years and especially over the pandemic I’ve been teaching sound system engineering to various groups in person and online, including a semester teaching at the Metalworks Institute. I enjoy teaching and it’s rewarding to see people’s eyes when they connect with a concept or idea. 

Teaching and mentoring are very important as our industry grows. This industry has not been thought of as a ’stable’ or ’normal’ career path, so few people grow up thinking that working on shows and live events is financially viable. This attitude is slowly changing, but it’s not where things are in Europe where artists and technicians are recognized as having legitimate careers.