FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – The Indiana University Jacobs School of Music is pleased to announce the appointment of Donald McKinney as professor of music in bands, effective Aug. 1, pending approval of the IU Board of Trustees. He will also serve as director of bands and chair of the Bands Department.
McKinney is currently director of bands, professor of conducting and chair of the conducting area at the University of Colorado Boulder College of Music. Prior to his 2013 appointment at CU Boulder, he was the director of wind ensembles and associate professor at Louisiana State University.
He has held additional faculty positions at Interlochen Arts Academy and Duquesne University Mary Pappert School of Music. From 2010 to 2015, he was the coordinator of bands for the renowned Interlochen Arts Camp, where he conducted the World Youth Wind Symphony and administered the summer band program.
“Donald McKinney’s outstanding reputation in wind conducting uniquely qualifies him to lead our students and Bands Department,” said Abra Bush, David Henry Jacobs Bicentennial Dean. “We enthusiastically welcome him to the Jacobs School and look forward to our many accomplishments together.”
As a guest conductor, McKinney has appeared with the Dallas Winds, Concordia Santa Fe, Boulder Philharmonic Orchestra, Greater Boulder Youth Orchestra and several honor ensembles. He has also conducted concerts and clinics in Costa Rica and Canada. His performances with the Dallas Winds have been featured on National Public Radio’s “Performance Today” numerous times.
As a teacher of conducting, McKinney has presented conducting master classes at institutions including East Carolina University, University of Central Florida, UCLA and more. His recording credits include projects with the Dallas Winds, University of Michigan Symphony Band and University of Texas Wind Ensemble, among others. He was nominated for a 2019 Grammy Award for producing the Dallas Winds recording “John Williams at the Movies.”
In 2017, McKinney was featured in The Instrumentalist, a prominent journal for instrumental music educators. He has published articles in numerous conducting resources, including five volumes of “Teaching Music through Performance in Band” and, most recently, “The Conductor’s Companion,” published by Meredith Music. He has also authored a chapter about Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Jennifer Higdon for the book “Women of Influence in Contemporary Music,” published by Scarecrow Press.
After participating in the Second Frederick Fennell Conducting Master Class, he was named a finalist for the Thelma A. Robinson Award by the Conductors Guild. He has been nominated for a Louisiana State University Alumni Association Faculty Excellence Award and is an honorary member of Kappa Kappa Psi and Phi Beta Mu. In 2023, he became president-elect of the Southwestern Division of College Band Directors National Association.
McKinney holds a Doctor of Musical Arts in Conducting degree from the University of Michigan. His primary conducting teachers include Michael Haithcock, Jack Stamp and Robert Cameron as well as additional study with H. Robert Reynolds and Frank Battisti.
“The Department of Bands is excited to welcome Dr. Don McKinney to the faculty,” said Eric Smedley, department chair. “He brings a wealth of experience and has a long record of excellence in the wind band profession. Our students are gaining a great mentor and a forward-thinking conductor.”