By Nicholas Steinhauser
Correspondent
Terence “T” Odonkor ‘22 has achieved a lot since his graduation from the College. From working on Broadway to orchestrating musical pieces, Odonkor has become a well-known figure in the music industry.
Odonkor has already made a big impact in orchestrating music right out of the College, and his path to success serves as a testament to how important applying oneself and learning from important mentors can be.
Odonkor told The Signal in an interview that has always been interested in music, and he started playing the saxophone in sixth grade, which is still his primary instrument. From that point onward, he became obsessed with music. Odonkor has since learned how to play the flute, bass, guitar, ukulele, and most recently, the piano. He has also recently started playing percussion instruments.
“I have always struggled with piano and just recently started taking lessons,” Odonkor said. “I have learned most of the rhythm instruments, but not the piano, which seems like the instrument I should have learned first.”
Since graduating from the College with a bachelor’s degree in music, Odonkor has made major steps in his career. He mostly works on Broadway, developing and orchestrating shows. He has also assisted other composers with their works as a musical arranger and orchestrator. He began practicing this in high school with the jazz band, writing charts and some original pieces and arrangements of existing pieces.
Odonkor became more involved in music arranging during his time at the College, when he joined the a cappella group called The Trentones. For most of his time in the organization, Odonkor served as the primary music director. This job got him interested in vocal arranging, which transferred to his orchestrating skills.
Looking back at his time at the College, Odonkor attributes his experience with the Trentones as a major catalyst for his current career. Working with the Trentones helped him learn how to effectively lead and direct a room as an orchestrator and arranger.
“When I am writing and orchestrating, I am really attributing the things that I am writing to how a voice would approach, even if it is not a typical vocal line,” said Odonkor.
“A lot of my heavy arranging abilities and understanding of arranging pedagogy came from vocal writing and lessons from Dr. Leonard, a music professor at the College,” Odonkor added.
Spending time observing voices has also helped Odonkor learn how to better write for voices and for instruments.
Odonkor worked as an assistant conductor on “Here We Are,” the last musical worked on by Stephen Sondheim before he died in 2021. When he was still a student at the College, Odonkor was on the music team for “A Strange Loop,” written by Michael R. Jackson, which won the Pulitzer Prize in 2020 for Drama and also won the Tony Award for Best Musical in 2022.
Since graduating from the College, Odonkor has also worked on “Back to the Future: The Musical,” served as the associate orchestrator for “The Heart of Rock and Roll,” and currently works as the vocal arranger for the new Andrew Lippa show called “Leap.” He is also orchestrating “Love Somebody Now,” another Andrew Lippa show.
Odonkor was an associate orchestrator for the 75th Tony Awards, a month after he graduated from the College. He has also worked as an assistant orchestrator for Alex Lacamoire, a well-known composer and winner of multiple Tony Awards.
“Alex Lacamoire is probably my biggest mentor and has taken me under his wing,” Odonkor said. “He has taught me not only about the musical aspects of the industry, but also has crafted the way I view myself as an artist and a member of the community.”
Odonkor has also worked on concerts and at private events for some philanthropists. He recently was the arranger and orchestrator of a large-scale musical event for Dennis and Phyllis Washington, two philanthropists. He has also worked with 16-time Grammy award-winning producer David Foster and orchestrated an entire event for him.
Odonkor has also worked and become friends with famous figures in the music industry such as David Foster, Josh Groban, Tom Kitt and Kristin Chenoweth.
All of the musical and professional advice Odonkor has learned has greatly influenced how he approaches his job as a composer and the decisions he has to make.
“My saxophone quartet with Kathleen Mitchell, an associate professor and saxophone instructor at The College, greatly impacted me,” Odonkor said. “Ms. Mitchell was one of the most important people to me musically and taught me a lot about patience, humility and how to work with and lead other people.”
Odonkor attributes much of his success to his practice and inspiration from The College. Many of the principles and behaviors that he currently practices are due to his education, and these are also responsible for his early success in the music industry.
“I really pride myself on the principle that no matter who you are, you must really understand what you do, how you do it, and how to make important decisions that command respect and excellence both musically and respectfully,” said Odonkor. “I think this is the most important philosophy that I learned from the College.”
Odonkor said he plans to continue working on Broadway in the future and wants to start working on more major projects. To him, orchestrating and arranging musicals helps him to bring the ideas of composers to life — and he hopes to continue doing this for years to come.
