Music

Bernard McDonald

Conductor and pianist Bernard McDonald garneredheadshot wide-ranging experience as a vocal coach, assistant conductor and chorus director with major opera companies in America, Europe and the Far East before embarking on a freelance career.

Upcoming engagements as conductor include The Merry Widow at Opera Theater of Pittsburgh. Recent engagements as conductor include Montemezzi’s L’incantesimo (US staged première) and Gianni Schicchi for Opera Theater of Pittsburgh; Cavalli’s Ormindo at the Pittsburgh Opera; Così fan tutte at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama (RSAMD) in Glasgow, Le nozze di Figaro for Opera Theater of Pittsburgh; La cenerentola (Bay View Music Festival, Michigan); Bizet’s Le docteur Miracle and La tragédie de Carmen (De Nieuwe Opera Academie) in Amsterdam and The Hague. Recent appearances on piano include his debut at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, in recital with mezzo-soprano Marietta Simpson and tenor John Aler.

Professional training at the Merola Program of the San Francisco Opera led directly to an invitation to join the music staff of the New York City Opera. He was subsequently Head of Music and Chorus Master at the Florida Grand Opera in Miami. As Chorus Master of Glyndebourne until 2005, he prepared over twenty-five productions to great critical acclaim for a host of internationally renowned conductors: highlights include Idomeneo with Sir Simon Rattle, Die Zauberflöte with Sir Charles Mackerras and Otello with Vladimir Jurowski.

He has also worked with, among others, the Aspen Music Festival and School, the New National Theatre Tokyo, the Netherlands Opera, the Netherlands Radio Choir, and the Indianapolis Symphonic Choir. Also in demand an educator, he has been on the faculty of the RSAMD and CCM.

A native of Dumbarton, Scotland, his studies include piano at the RSAMD; opera at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, London, and the College-Conservatory of Music of the University of Cincinnati (CCM); musicology at the University of Glasgow, and conducting at Indiana University. He joined the faculty of Simpson College as Director of Opera in the Fall of 2011, where he is the G. Dewey and M. Maine Larsen Chair of Opera and Musical Coaching.

Last Updated: 11/18/11