William Ronan, Founder & Experience Director
A visionary leader, entrepreneur, and producer, William Ronan brings artistic sensibility, strategic thinking, and deep production expertise to Vox Museorum.
Ronan’s production experience is expansive: though music and sound have always been central to his portfolio, he has also spearheaded high-value productions for film, video, digital advertising, and experiential media. In a distinguished career, Ronan has held key roles at top advertising agencies and production companies—JWT Worldwide, Publicis/West, Mekanism/NY, and Digital Kitchen/Seattle—where he produced high-value creative content for global brands like Nordstrom, Microsoft, Boeing, Tiffany, JanSport, Ford, T-Mobile, Amazon, and Peloton.
Ronan’s career in music began in 1993 as the founder of CineVox, a state-of-the-art film and advertising soundtrack facility in Seattle. Working with many of the city's prominent composers, musicians, sound designers, and producers, Ronan turned CineVox into a national hub for innovative advertising and film soundtracks.
In 2001, Ronan founded Downtown Composer Collective (DCC), a music production company focused on advertising and film soundtracks. Breaking with convention, Ronan assembled an eclectic roster of critically acclaimed recording artists, renowned for their avant-garde creativity—Steve Fisk, Kronos Quartet, Bill Frisell, Henry Threadgill, Nicky Skopelitis, Sean Nelson, Reggie Watts, DJ Logic, and Vox Museorum’s Creative Director, Wayne Horvitz. (Select Ronan/Horvitz commercial soundtracks below)
In 2011, Ronan and DCC entered the fledgling medium of experiential composition with Steve Fisk’s immersive soundscape for “Nirvana, Taking Punk to the Masses.” The work transformed the gallery into a dynamic sonic environment, layering period grunge music, spatialized sound sources, and site-specific sonic textures. The soundscape guided visitor movement while evoking profound emotional resonance for the exhibit audience.
Thus began a series of experiential soundscapes Ronan produced for MoPOP: “Scared to Death: The Thrill of Horror Film,” its reformulation, “Can't Look Away: The Lure of Horror Film,” “Bowie: By Mick Rock,” and “Fantasy: Worlds of Myth and Magic.”
These groundbreaking MoPOP productions, combined with his long-time affiliation with renowned composers, inspired Ronan and Horvitz to launch Vox Museorum and work to redefine the museum experience with music and sound.
WAYNE HORVITZ & WILLIAM RONAN
SELECT COMMERCIAL SOUNDTRACKS
T-MOBILE: "COMMITTMENT PHOBIA"
SEATTLE FILM FESTIVAL: BLACK COMEDY
Featuring Music by Wayne Horvitz
Vocals by Reggie Watts
TIFFANY & CO: "SALEM CRYSTAL"
Music by Wayne Horvitz
NORDSTROM: "THERE IS A PLACE"
Music composed by Wayne Horvitz
GOOGLE: "CHROMANCE"
Music composed by Wayne Horvitz