Day: July 13, 2022

Visual and Performing Arts announces two new sound faculty that have joined the department. Jeff Sherwood, Assistant Professor of Sound, and Michael Maxwell, Assistant Teaching Professor.

Jeff Sherwood (he/him) is a professional theatre artist and educator specializing in sound design, music composition, and audio engineering.  He strives to bring original and innovative ideas in collaboration with creative teams in the art of storytelling.  He has worked in New York City at Off-Broadway theatres including The Public Theater, The New Group, Signature Theatre, Manhattan Theatre Club, Roundabout Theatre Company, and others.  During the past few summers, he has worked as Audio Supervisor at the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center in Waterford, Connecticut, where his affinity for sound design for new puppetry, music theatre, and play development continues to grow, and where he will be returning this year as the Resident Sound Designer for the National Playwrights Conference. 

He is thrilled to be joining the sound program at Michigan Technological University as an Assistant Professor of Sound in the Department of Visual and Performing Arts and is eager to collaborate with colleagues and students on future projects.  He 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 Korean American heritage inspires his interests in traveling, exploring new cultures, and keeping local restaurants in business.  View and hear his work at www.sherwoodsound.com. 

We are excited that Jeff Sherwood is bringing his expertise in composing with virtual instruments as well as in depth experience with New York City theatrical production to Michigan Tech. We are extremely lucky to have attracted new faculty with this level of creative and technical skill and experience.  

Christopher Plummer, VPA Professor of Sound

Michael Maxwell, MFA

Michael Maxwell is a sound/media artist, audio engineer, and educator with an interest in audio/visual synthesis, music and sound effects recording, mixing, and media art installation. Maxwell received his Master of Fine Arts in Mass Communication & Media Arts from Southern Illinois University and is an Academic Leadership Fellow through University of Central Oklahoma’s Educators’ Leadership Academy.

Maxwell has worked in post production audio for SyFy Channel, Historia Pictures, and various independent filmmakers with works shown in dozens of film festivals internationally. Recently, Maxwell has been a live sound mixer for the Oklahoma City Philharmonic, John DaVersa & His Small Band, Emily Rhyne & The Oklahoma Legacy Band, and AdaFest Music Festival. Current media art pieces include Aggregate Voices, an audio installation series shown in the Pogue Gallery in Ada, OK and After Hunts Spiral, which was installed in the Over the Structures Exhibition at Czong Institute for Contemporary Art, Gimpo-si, Gyeonggi-do, Korea. Portfolio Link https://www.mgmaxwell.net/

Mike Maxwell brings experience in synthesizers, art installations, and video broadcast to the VPA department.  This will provide our students with more creative opportunities and expand on numerous cross campus collaborations. 

Christopher Plummer, VPA Professor of Sound