CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Andrew Megill, considered one of the leading choral conductors of his generation, will join the University of Illinois in the fall as the director of choral activities and as a professor of conducting.
Megill leads three vocal ensembles: the Montreal Symphony Orchestra Chorus, the Carmel Bach Festival Chorale and Fuma Sacra, a chamber choir specializing in early music, for which he has served as artistic director since its founding in 1989. He previously served as music director of the Masterwork Chorus and Orchestra, as chorus master for the Spoleto Festival USA and as a professor at Westminster Choir College at Rider University.
Megill has frequently prepared choirs for performances with top orchestras, including the Cleveland Orchestra, Dresdner Philharmonie, the National Symphony Orchestra and the New York Philharmonic. He has been a guest conductor for the Yale Institute of Sacred Music, TENET vocal ensemble, the Julliard Opera Center and Emmanuel Music (Boston). In December, he will make his debut conducting the Montreal Symphony Orchestra.
Jeffrey Magee, the director of the School of Music, said he’s happy to have found the right person to lead the U. of I. choral program.
“Andrew Megill has all the right tools – extensive experience in professional and academic worlds, capacious knowledge of more than six centuries of choral music repertoire, impeccable rehearsal and conducting technique, and a gift for bringing out the best in the musicians with whom he works,” Magee said. “He is a perfect match for the School of Music’s choral program, which was the first in the country to offer the doctorate in choral conducting and whose alumni are in leadership positions all over the country.”
Megill said he’s looking forward to joining the U. of I. “I am thrilled to contribute to the university’s extraordinary legacy as one of the nation’s most important centers for the study of the choral art.”
Megill is pronounced muh-GILL. To reach Jeffrey Magee, call 217-333-2620; jmag@illinois.edu.
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