Michael McGaghie - A Clear Blue Morning

A Clear Blue Morning: Catching the Breath of Life

November, 2019

Singers in Accord welcomes guest conductor Dr. Michael McGaghie for their fall concert series titled “A Clear Blue Morning – Catching the Breath of Life,” on November 16 and 17, 2019.

At the heart of the program is the invitation to savor the lives we’re given and the mindful reflection that takes us from a sense of loss to a place of gratitude, deliverance, and peace. The choir will contemplate each of these themes in a concert featuring “Requiem” by Herbert Howells and selections from Dale Trumbore, Jake Runestad, Shawn Kirchner, Elaine Hagenberg, and an arrangement of Dolly Parton’s “Light of a Clear Blue Morning,” by Craig Hella Johnson.

Michael McGaghie

Michael McGaghie

Dr. Michael McGaghie is Assistant Professor of Music and Director of Choral Activities at Macalester College and conductor of the Harvard Glee Club Alumni Chorus. He conducts the Macalester Concert Choir and Chorale and teaches courses in music history and criticism. An active adjudicator and clinician, he has served as chorusmaster of the Minnesota Bach Ensemble and as regular guest conductor of the Twin Cities ensemble Singers in Accord. He sings tenor as a member of the Minnesota Beethoven Festival Chorale.

The American Choral Directors Association has frequently recognized his work. Under his direction, the Macalester Concert Choir was chosen by a double-blind audition to perform at ACDA’s 2016 North Central Division Conference. He was one of seven American conductors selected for the ACDA International Conductors Exchange Program in China, where he conducted several student and professional choirs in greater Shanghai. His doctoral thesis on Minnesotan composer Dominick Argento received ACDA’s Julius Herford Prize, awarded annually for the nation’s most outstanding dissertation in choral music.