Enjoy this performance from almost anywhere in the world viaLIVE@jacobs!Repertoire Shuying Li: In This Breath (2025, consortium premiere)John Corigliano: Gazebo Dances (1972/73)Quinn Mason: A Joyous Trilogy (2019/22)Erik Santos: The Seer (2019) About the ArtistsDonald J. McKinney is professor of music in bands, director of bands, and chair of the Bands Department at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music. He was previously 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. McKinney 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. As a guest conductor, he has appeared with the Dallas Winds, Concordia Santa Fe, Boulder Philharmonic Orchestra, Greater Boulder Youth Orchestra, and numerous honor ensembles. His performances with the Dallas Winds have been featured on National Public Radio's Performance Today on numerous occasions. As a teacher of conducting, he has presented conducting master classes at a host of colleges and universities. His recording credits include projects with the Dallas Winds, University of Michigan Symphony Band, University of Texas Wind Ensemble, University of North Texas Wind Symphony, Keystone Wind Ensemble, and the Duquesne University Wind Symphony. He was nominated for a 2019 Grammy Award for producing the Dallas Winds recording John Williams at the Movies. He has published articles in numerous conducting resources, including five volumes of Teaching Music through Performance in Band and The Conductor's Companion. He has also authored a chapter about Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Jennifer Higdon for the book Women of Influence in Contemporary Music. McKinney earned 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. Baritone AlonzaLawrence has extensive experience as a vocal performer and studio teacher and has led several grade school, university, community, and church choruses. Past teaching experiences include serving as the associate instructor for the Indiana University African American Choral Ensemble; vocal coach, rhythm coach, accompanist, and soloist for the Emmy award-winning Amen, Music of the Black Church! PBS concert documentary; tenured music educator and chorus director in the Virginia public schools; artistic director of the Boys Choir of Hampton Roads (Virginia), and minister of music for several churches in Virginia, Indiana, and Illinois. He has also been featured as a vocal artist for the Virginia Symphony, the I. Sherman Greene Chorale, Choral Arts West, Hickory Choral Society, multiple universities, and the Virginia Opera. Lawrence's work and research bridge the gap between Eurocentric and Afrocentric music practices. Areas of special interest include classical voice, musical theater, opera and Afrocentric voice and piano performance (gospel, R&B, soul, pop, etc.). Through performance, research of contemporary voice pedagogies, curation of gospel exhibits for museums, service as panelist/clinician/lecturer for numerous symposiums, and development of courses anchored in gospel musicology and performance, Lawrence is creating pathways for Afrocentric music to be studied and performed on equal footing with Eurocentric traditions. Since joining the voice faculty at the University of Illinois in 2022, he serves as a professor of voice, contemporary vocal performance specialist, gospel studies, and a vocal coach for the Lyric Theater. Lawrence earned both Doctor of Music and Master of Music degrees from the IU Jacobs School of Music and a Bachelor of Music Education from Norfolk State University.