About Katie
The name Katie Richardson is synonymous with eclectic creative spirit and collaboration. Between her varied work as an award winning musical director, composer, sound designer, producer and songwriter, she’s long been at the heart of Ireland’s forward pushing musical community.
She currently makes her own music under the name Hex Hue but has performed, toured and collaborated with many different acts and artists over the years including choice nominated Pleasure Beach, Foy Vance, Duke Special as well as supporting artists such as Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds, Van Morrison, Jesca Hoop, Bell X1, All Saints and many more.
In 2015 she was featured as one of the Irish Times 'Northern Lights' which profiled people changing the face of Northern Ireland in their particular fields.
As well as working as a composer, songwriter and sound designer for many theatre, dance and film companies Katie also composes for and curates spectacular live, collaborative performances in unique and beautiful settings.
From ‘The Big Dream’ curated and directed by Katie for Little Amal’s visit to Belfast in May 2024
Some examples of recent projects include:
Composer and Sound Designer for Shadowdock - an immersive, large-scale sound and light experience in the docks of Belfast.
Composer and Sound Designer for The Tragedy of Richard III in the Lyric Theatre Belfast - named as one of Stage Magazines best productions in 2024.
Composer and Musical Director for Good Vibrations in Grand Opera house Belfast and Irish Arts Centre NYC transfer.
Composer for short film 'The Death of a Projectionist' by Oscar nominated and Bafta award winning Out of Orbit Films.
Musical Director, Composer and Sound designer for Rough Girls by Tara Lynn O’Neill which was selected as one of The Stage Magazine’s best plays of 2021.
Composer for ‘BIND’ a dance film by Eileen McClory which has been shown at festivals all over the world and won ‘Best short dance film’ at Music and Dance Film Festival 2023.
Sound Designer for ‘The New Electric Ballroom’ by Enda Walsh in Gate Theatre Dublin
Composer, Sound Designer and Musical Director for ‘Hansel and Gretal’ in Lyric Theatre Belfast
Composer, producer and performer for ‘Electro carnival’ in The Mac Belfast featuring a supergroup of emerging Irish musicians to celebrate 30 years of Carnival in Belfast.
Producer and Musical Director of ‘Lucent’ - an immersive and collaborative live music experience.
Composing and conducting music for the finale of Culture Night Belfast which was a large scale outdoor performance featuring over 500 performers including dancers, singers, drummers and other musicians.
In 2023 Katie won a Broadway Ireland award for her work as composer and musical director for Good Vibrations in the Grand Opera house Belfast and NYC transfer.
In 2020 Katie was selected as on of award winning theatre company, Prime Cut’s, Reveal artists which champions and develops emerging theatre makers. She is currently working on a music based commission with them as part of this award.
In Summer 2020 Katie curated the Creative Hub for the TedX Stormont online and co-founded Safe in Sound which is a new initiative with the vision to create a safe, strong, connected creative sector founded on equality, diversity and respect. Katie Is now the Chair of Safe in Sound and sits on many UK wide committees representing Northern Ireland in the conversations around safe spaces in music and the creative industries. Katie is also an experienced choral director and currently is the musical director of The Cathedral Quarter Choir.
Lucent in The Mac Belfast
Lyric 50th performance
Katie in the studio
Current Projects
Lough Neagh Tales - Immersive Project
Immersive Composition and Sound Design - in development
Directed by Emma Jordan
Produced by Prime Cut Productions
Funded by Immersive Arts UK
An innovative augmented reality and audio-responsive experience designed for family audiences, will bring to life the rich tapestry of myth and history surrounding Lough Neagh and Ram’s Island. Blending storytelling, spatial sound, and AR.
Photo Credit: Stephen Daly
The Briar Patch
By Ciara Elizabeth Smyth
Shedinburgh, Edinburgh Fringe 2025
A psychologist and an actor meet in the sea. Or did they? They can’t agree.
Dara and Gig have been happily married for decades. But one of them has done something unforgivable.
Facts are slippery. Feelings are filthy. And memories are unreliable.This is a love story. A crime scene. Seasickness on solid ground.
The Briar Patch is a dissection of a relationship under pressure — a play about what we remember, what we misremember, and the devastating possibility that we were never really paying attention.
Dating Amber
Music and lyrics by Katie Richardson
Based on the film by David Freyne
Directed by Des Kennedy
Landmark Productions and Galway International Arts Festival
in association with Irish Arts Center, New York
Ireland, 1995. Mary Robinson is President, the country is on the brink of a divorce referendum, and sex is something you get taught by the Sisters of the Holy Faith.
17 year old Eddie is shy, sensitive, and seriously stressed. He wants to be in the Army just like his dad. 17 year old Amber is fearless, ferocious and an antifascist. She is counting the days until she can escape to London.
They couldn’t be more different, except for one thing — they are both hiding the same secret. So Amber and Eddie make an arrangement that will help them impress their parents and silence the bullies. How long can they keep up the pretence? What happens if feelings get in the way? Can Eddie stop having horny dreams about his maths teacher Mr. Sweeney? Dating Amber is a teenage queer love story about beards, bodies and learning to be brave.
With an original score packed with punk, pop and 90s grunge, this work in progress sharing in Galway Arts Festival 2025 is sneak peek at a joyful new musical about coming of age and coming out.
Little Brother
Sound Design and Composition
Soho Theatre - Dean Street London
Written by Eoin McAndrew
Directed by Emma Jordan
Winner of the Verity Bargate Award 2024
“I’d like you to promise me that you’re not going to try and set yourself on fire again. That way I’ll know that everything is completely fine now.”
Eoin McAndrew’s darkly comic and beautifully observed new play shines a light on the crisis of care in Northern Ireland, the strength of a brother-sister bond and the unpredictable journey towards recovery. Sometimes being there for the people you love is very very very difficult.
Little Brother was selected from 1,700 entries to the Verity Bargate Award, sponsored by Character 7. The award’s main prize is a fully staged production at Soho Theatre. The judging panel included industry experts Alan Cumming, Moira Buffini (Dinner, National Theatre; West End) and Anupama Chandrasekhar (Father and the Assassin, National Theatre). Previous panellists have included Phoebe Waller Bridge, Laura Wade and Russell T Davies.
Julie
By Charlotte McCurry
Directed by Paula McFetridge
Produced by Kabosh Theatre Company
Premiering August 2025
Lenadoon, West Belfast, 1981
Bernadette loves Gene Kelly, Doris Day, and Julie Garland.
She shares a bedroom with her wee sister – Julie.
Julie loves Sheena Easton, Annie Lennox, and Adam Ant.
Julie isn’t too bothered there’s women out banging bin lids
One of the hunger strikers just died.
She’s more concerned with sorting a new pair of Topaz tights for the Horn Drive disco.
She is fourteen after all…
Julie Livingstone was fatally shot by a plastic bullet while crossing the road near her home. Seen through the eyes of Julie’s sister Bernadette, this powerful new play follows a teenage girl navigating her own grief, her family’s loss and their struggle for justice.
Good with Faces
Written and directed by Oisin Kearney
Produced by Gina Donnelly
'Good With Faces', a new show from acclaimed Writer/Director Oisín Kearney hits The Lyric next week. Anne Garrick has tidied her house, cleaned her face and even bought the good biscuits. But will the truth come out when social worker Liam Hegarty starts asking questions about her son Max?
