Mary McDonald (composer)

Last updated

Mary McDonald (born 1956) is an American composer, arranger, producer, pianist, and organist.

Contents

Early years

Mary McDonald showed an early talent for music, playing hymns by ear by age five. She graduated from Carson-Newman College in East Tennessee in 1978 and took her first position as an organist at Beaver Dam Baptist Church in Knoxville. She was self-taught as a keyboard player and did not read music well, so improvised the music. With her husband's help, McDonald transcribed tapes of the services which were accepted for publication in Pedalpoint Magazine. With the encouragement of music publisher John Purifoy, she composed her first choral anthem in 1983. [1]

Career

Besides composing, McDonald works as a choral clinician throughout the United States, conducting workshops. In 1985 she took a position as accompanist for the Tennessee Men’s Chorale. In 2000 she served as the first woman President of the Southern Baptist Church Music Conference. McDonald worked as a sacred choral editor for The Lorenz Corporation for nearly twenty years and continues to work for them as a consultant. She also serves as the organist for Central Baptist Church in Knoxville, Tennessee. [2]

McDonald is a member of the American Guild of Organists (AGO) and the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP). She received a second place award from the John Ness Beck Foundation for her composition "Yes, My Jesus Loves Me." [1]

Personal life

Mary and her husband, architect, Brian McDonald live in Dandridge, Tennessee. They have two married children and six grandchildren.

Works

McDonald is prolific as a composer. She has published over 1000 choral anthems, cantatas and keyboard collections. Selected compositions include:

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Stainer</span> English composer (1840–1901)

Sir John Stainer was an English composer and organist whose music, though seldom performed today, was very popular during his lifetime. His work as choir trainer and organist set standards for Anglican church music that are still influential. He was also active as an academic, becoming Heather Professor of Music at Oxford.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Rutter</span> English composer, conductor and arranger (born 1945)

Sir John Milford Rutter is an English composer, conductor, editor, arranger, and record producer, mainly of choral music.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Goss (composer)</span> English organist and composer (1800–1880)

Sir John Goss was an English organist, composer and teacher.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Samuel Sebastian Wesley</span> English organist and composer (1810–1876)

Samuel Sebastian Wesley was an English organist and composer. Wesley married Mary Anne Merewether and had 6 children. He is often referred to as S.S. Wesley to avoid confusion with his father Samuel Wesley.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Healey Willan</span> English and Canadian composer (1880–1968)

James Healey Willan was an English and Canadian organist and composer. He composed more than 800 works including operas, symphonies, chamber music, a concerto, and pieces for band, orchestra, organ, and piano. He is best known for his church music.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William Croft</span> English composer and organist

William Croft was an English composer and organist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Basil Harwood</span> English organist and composer (1859–1949)

Basil Harwood was an organist and composer in the English church music tradition, best known today for his liturgical works, particularly his anthem O How Glorious is the Kingdom (1898) and his Service in A flat (1892), which still remain popular in English churches. He wrote numerous hymn tunes, several of which became well-known including Luckington and Thornbury ("O Jesus I Have Promised" and "Thy hand, O God, has guided").

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Phoebe Knapp</span> American hymnwriter

Phoebe Knapp was an American composer of music for hymns and an organist.

Sir George Job Elvey (1816–1893) was an English organist and composer.

Malcolm Archer is an English composer, conductor and organist. He was formerly Organist and Director of Music at Bristol Cathedral, at Wells Cathedral and at St Paul's Cathedral and Director of Chapel Music at Winchester College.

Donald Paul Hustad was a recognized leader in evangelical church music for six decades. Although he was an esteemed musician, composer, and teacher, Hustad's richest legacy resides in his informed criticism of evangelical church music and his well-developed philosophy of worship communicated through lectures, articles, and books.

William Selby (1738–1798) was an English organist, harpsichordist, choirmaster and composer who emigrated to America.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William Henry Monk</span> English organist, organist, composer and music editor (1823-1889)

William Henry Monk was an English organist, Anglican church musician, and music editor who composed popular hymn tunes, including "Eventide", used for the hymn "Abide with Me", and "All Things Bright and Beautiful". He also wrote music for church services and anthems.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richard Hey Lloyd</span> British organist and composer (1933–2021)

Richard Hey Lloyd was a British organist and composer.

John Ness Beck was an American composer and arranger of choral music, best known for his settings of traditional Sacred music. His works are frequently performed by high school, college, church, community, and professional choirs across the globe today.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roberta Bitgood</span> American classical composer

Roberta Bitgood (Wiersma) (15 January 1908 – 15 April 2007) was an American organist, choir director, and composer. She was a pioneer of 20th-century American church music, and the first woman to serve as national president of the American Guild of Organists.

Camil Anton Johan Van Hulse was a Belgian-American pianist, organist, teacher, and composer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carrie B. Wilson Adams</span>

Carrie Belle (Wilson) Adams (1859–1940) was the first American woman to conduct a public performance of Handel's oratorio, "Messiah." An Ohio native and musical child prodigy who performed in concert for the first time at age seven, she spent much of her life in Indiana, where she was a choral conductor and organist. By the time of her death in Portland, Oregon, she had also become one of the most prolific American composers, completing 4,000 anthems, 12 cantatas, and 28 operettas during her lifetime.

"For the beauty of the earth" is a sacred choral composition by John Rutter, a setting of the hymn of the same name by Folliott S. Pierpoint. The work was published by Oxford University Press in 1980. Recorded several times, it has been described as "one of Rutter's more popular, enduring anthems".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Emma Louise Ashford</span>

Emma Louise Ashford was an American organist, composer, and music editor. She wrote over 600 compositions. From 1894 to 1930 she was an editor at Lorenz Publishing Company, and at its periodicals The Choir Leader and The Organist.

References

  1. 1 2 McKee, Wendy (12 January 2011). "Choral Conversations: Mary McDonald" . Retrieved 12 December 2015.
  2. "McDonald, Mary". Archived from the original on 2016-08-21. Retrieved 7 April 2019.