Frederick Kennedy is a Canadian-American sound designer, composer, and jazz improviser who works primarily in theater and live performance. 

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Some recent projects include creating original music and designing sound for Malvolio, Twelfth Night, Seize the King and The Bacchae for Classical Theater of Harlem (NY Times’ Critic Picks); overseeing the audio recording and designing sound for Lincoln Center Theatre's first ever audio play, The Forbidden City; the world premiere of Noah Diaz's Richard & Jane & Dick & Sally at Baltimore Center Stage; Nambi E. Kelly’s Native Son, produced by the Acting Company at the Duke Theater in New York City; The Veil Widow Conspiracy, with the National Asian American Theater Company; and Suzan-Lori Parks’ Father Comes Home from the Wars, parts 1, 2, and 3, co-produced by American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco and Yale Repertory Theatre. Aside from numerous regional theater and dance collaborations, Frederick’s longtime working relationship with Canadian video artist Pierre St-Jacques has resulted in gallery showings in Canada, Europe, China, Japan, and Scandinavia. Frederick's pandemic-inspired piece Rest, a commission from Ma-Yi Theatre in New York, has been streamed globally hundreds of thousands of times. 

 

As a musician, he has worked as a drummer and percussionist with Ken Thompson’s Slow/Fast ensemble (Bang on Can All Stars), Grammy winner Zach Brock’s Magic Number ensemble, New York Klezmer virtuoso David Krakauer, Latin Grammy–nominated Peruvian recording artist Pamela Rodriguez, Guggenheim Award–winning Canadian jazz artist Anna Webber, and the experimental electroacoustic improvising ensemble Gray Code, aside from many others

 

As a teacher, Frederick has served on the faculties of the Yale School of Drama, the City University of New York, and Connecticut College, teaching composition and sound design and giving individual instruction in composition and music production. Currently, he is Assistant Professor of Sound Design at University of Minnesota's Department of Theater Arts and Dance.

 

Frederick holds an MFA in sound design from Yale School of Drama, and a Bachelor of Music in jazz studies from the University of North Texas College of Music.

 

Fellowships and awards include artist development grants from the Canada Council for the Arts, the 2018 Burry Fredrik Fellowship in Design, and a Robert Merritt award for best original sound and music for the play Brighter than the Light of the Sun, an exploration of the entwined stories of Louis Riel and Louis B. Mayer.

 

He is represented by Bret Adams Artists, Ltd., in New York City.

 

Member United Scenic Artists, Local 829, IATSE