“There are seven notes in the scale; make them fourteen; yet what a slender outfit for so vast an enterprise! What science brings so much out of so little? Out of what poor elements does some great master in it create his new world!”— John Henry Newman (1801–1890)
Faculty Information
Additional Faculty Information for Timothy McDonnell
Education
D.M.A, University of South Carolina, 2002
M.Mus. Yale University, 1999
A.B. Immaculata College, 1996
Biography
Conductor, Timothy McDonnell is the Director of Sacred Music at Hillsdale College, where he leads the Chapel Choir and oversees the Choral Scholars program. Before coming to Hillsdale, Dr. McDonnell led the graduate program in Sacred Music at The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C from 2016-2021, where he also served as the Director of Choral Studies. From 2008 to 2015, McDonnell was the Director of Choral Activities at Ave Maria University, in Naples, FL. While at Ave Maria, he was chairman of the music department for 8 years and taught music theory, counterpoint, orchestration, and conducting. Prior to Ave Maria University, Dr. McDonnell held an appointment at the Pontifical North American College in Vatican City as the master of the music chapel, where he oversaw some 20 sung liturgies per week.
Dr. McDonnell has worked with several professional ensembles, including as harpsichordist for the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia, orchestra assistant at Opera Philadelphia, conductor of the Symphonic Chorus of the Southwest Florida Symphony Orchestra, and founder of The Symphonic Chorale of Southwest Florida (now Choral Artistry). McDonnell has been guest conductor with the Salisbury Symphony Orchestra (MD), the Southwest Florida Symphony Orchestra, and the Naples Philharmonic.
In 2013 McDonnell was a finalist for the American Prize in choral conducting for his performance of Mozart’s Requiem, and in 2014 he took third place in the American Prize for his performance of Brahms’ Ein deutsches Requiem. His 2019 performance of Mozart’s Vesperae Solennes de Confessore garnered 2nd place in the American Prize Choral Conducting Competition in 2020. Dr. McDonnell has collaborated as choirmaster with several leading conductors including Andrey Boreyko, Carlos Miguel Prieto, Cristian Macelaru, and Robert Page. In 2018 he collaborated with Gustavo Dudamel in a performance of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony at the Kennedy Center as part of an international tour of the Los Angeles Philharmonic.
Dr. McDonnell is active as a composer and arranger. His work has been performed by orchestras around the world, including the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia, the Southwest Florida Symphony Orchestra, The Kennett Symphony, and the Chamber Orchestra of Flanders. McDonnell was a finalist for the 2014 American Prize in composition for his choral-orchestral work, Sub tuum praesidium. Again in 2019, McDonnell was a finalist for the American Prize for his choral-orchestral work, Spoon River Triptych.
Dr. McDonnell has served as conductor/faculty for the Church Music Association of America’s annual Colloquium. He has also been on the conducting faculty with the Catholic Sacred Music Project, where he collaborated with Sir James MacMillan in 2021 and Martin Baker in 2022.