Issue link: http://tcnj.uberflip.com/i/1547453
24 The College of New Jersey Magazine Word of Odonkor's talent quickly spread. One professor tapped him to arrange for the clarinet ensemble. Another asked him to help with the choir. As music director for the Trentones, he arranged the majority of their vocals, along with pieces for other campus a cappella groups and for his own saxophone quartet. Odonkor took the work seriously and studied the discographies of every musician whose work might inform his own, from Boyz II Men and Stevie Wonder to gospel great Mahalia Jackson; he spent every free moment listening. "To be a good artist, I needed to know music," he says. "And music brings me happiness. Who knows what joy I'm leaving out of my life by not taking the initiative to search for it." ODONKOR'S SELF-DRIVEN streak served him well when the pandemic hit midway through his sophomore year. Sensing that TCNJ — and the world — might be closed for longer than a few weeks, Odonkor packed his room, moved home, and cooked up a do-it-himself lesson plan to maintain his momentum. He built a desk, bought a synthesizer, and scoured Facebook Marketplace for "every instrument under the sun," adding a trombone, trumpets, guitars, and congas to his makeshift studio. "I was locked in," he says. "I spent my time learning skills that could only really have come to me as a result of the specific circumstances of being in my basement all day, every day, during the pandemic." During that time, Odonkor sought out musicians willing to share their talents. While scrolling Instagram, he discovered jazz pianist Mark G. Meadows and asked to pick his brain. The request was unusual, says Meadows, but Odonkor's "contagious, joyful energy" came through when they hopped on a Zoom. "It was an instant 'I'm going to try to do what I can to help this guy out,'" says Meadows, who now holds the title of music director for Wicked actress Cynthia Erivo. " he's fearless," lyricist Andrew Lippa says of Odonkor. WHETHER HE IS IN a coffee house or a theater on Broadway, Terence Odonkor takes his work with him.