Jeff Sherwood

Biography

Jeff Sherwood (he/him) is an Assistant Professor of Sound in the Department of Visual and Performing Arts at Michigan Technological University.  He is a professional theatre and digital media artist specializing in sound design, music composition, and audio engineering and has worked regionally and at New York City Off-Broadway theatres including The Public Theater, The New Group, Signature Theatre, Manhattan Theatre Club, Roundabout Theatre Company, Williamstown Theatre Festival, PlayMakers Repertory Company, and others.  During the past few summers, Sherwood has worked as Audio Supervisor at the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center in Waterford, Connecticut, where he returned in 2022 as the Resident Sound Designer for the National Playwrights Conference. 

Sherwood enjoys mentoring and fueling the passion of the rising generation of sound artists and engineers, and is regularly invited to teach sound design masterclasses and workshops at the National Theater Institute.  He previously held the faculty position of Teacher-Scholar Postgraduate Fellow in Sound Design at Wake Forest University in North Carolina.  He received his Master of Fine Arts (MFA) in Theatre Sound from Purdue University, and his Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) in Theatre Design and Production from Oklahoma City University. 

Recent awards include the United States Institute for Theatre Technology (USITT) Robert E. Cohen Sound Achievement Award for Young Designers, Managers, and Technicians in the Performing Arts, as well as the Purdue University Excellence in Teaching Award for Graduate Teaching Assistants in 2020.  He was also a national finalist for the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival in 2012 and 2014.  He is an active member of the USITT Sound Commission, Theatrical Sound Designers and Composers Association (TSDCA), Audio Engineering Society (AES), and is an Associated Crafts and Technicians (ACT) member of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE).  His research interests include new work and exploring how the entire theatrical experience functions as a form of music, large-scale sound system design and documentation, as well as teaching pedagogy and instructional design.  His Korean American heritage inspires his interests in traveling, exploring new cultures, and keeping local restaurants in business.

Recent sound design and composition credits include – New York: Emily Dickinson: Paranormal Investigator (PowerOut NYC). Regional: Jersey Boys (Theatre Aspen), The Bridges of Madison County (Axelrod PAC), The Amish Project (PlayMakers Repertory Company), Theater Happens in the Dark (Eugene O’Neill Theater Center Theatermakers); Mother Russia, Jump, The Amish Project (Chautauqua Theater Company); The Foreigner, The Mousetrap, Cabaret, The Music Man (The Cape Playhouse); Take the Car, Zastrozzi: The Master of Discipline (Williamstown Theatre Festival PTP). Wake Forest University: Men on Boats, She Loves Me, Holding the Mirror Up to Nature, Connected in the Deep. Purdue University: Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley (Sound Design & Incidental Music), She Kills Monsters (Composer), By the Way, Meet Vera Stark (Sound Designer), The Beaux’ Stratagem (Composer). Film/TV: The Jewish Story--Season 2, Master of Return, White Noise, Troilus & Cressida, We Are ROM3 (Short); Expats 101 (Pilot). Awards: USITT Robert E. Cohen Sound Achievement Award 2020; Excellence in Teaching Award for Graduate Teaching Assistants 2020; Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival (KC/ACTF) National Finalist 2014, 2012.