KEVIN O'DONNELL is a sound designer, composer, and drummer currently residing in the Nashville metro area, where he is the Faculty Coordinator for Sound and Media Design for Middle Tennessee State University’s Department of Theatre and Dance.
As a composer and designer for theatre, Kevin has worked all over the US. In Chicago, where he was based for many years, he has worked at Steppenwolf, Lookingglass, Chicago Shakespeare, Victory Gardens, Northlight, The Court, Redmoon, The Building Stage, The Hypocrites, The House Theatre, and Writers Theatre, amongst many others. His work in Chicago theatre has earned him 23 Jeff Award nominations, and 10 Awards. Outside of Chicago his work has been heard at numerous regional theaters; in New York at St. Anne's Warehouse, 59E59, The Cherry Lane, and The Signature Theatre; in New Orleans (where he has taught at Tulane, and worked for the New Orleans’ Shakespeare Festival) he has been nominated for 2 Big Easy Awards for Sound Design at Le Petite Theatre du Vieux Carre, where he has designed and composed for numerous productions.
As a musician Kevin has recorded and toured extensively with Andrew Bird, recently drumming for Andrew's 2021 Ravinia Retrospective show, as well as the “Are You Serious” and "Hands of Glory" tours; additionally he drummed for Andrew’s music for the Zack Galifinakis show "Baskets" on the FX channel. Kevin played on all of Bird's early recordings (up through "The Mysterious Production of Eggs"), including the recently re-released "Weather Systems" ("Essential listening" – Pitchfork); and he also co-produced and performed on the soundtrack for the film "Norman" starring Richard Jenkins and Emily VanCamp. He has also performed or recorded with Kelly Hogan, Jon Rauhouse, Rachel Ries, Squirrel Nut Zippers, Nickel Creek, Jon Wesley Harding, David Berkeley, Roger Eno/Dive Index, and Ani DeFranco, among many others.
Before switching his focus to composing and designing for theatre, he composed extensively for choreographer Molly Shanahan, with whom he recently reunited on a new collaboration, the work-in-progress Blackbird Vantriloquy. His work with Shanahan has been performed from Chicago to New York, and from Florida to Montreal.