Bernard McDonald
Bernard McDonald has worked with major opera companies in North America, Europe, and the Far East. International appearances have included engagements at the New National Theatre Tokyo, the Netherlands Opera, the Netherlands Radio Choir, the Dutch National Opera Academy in Amsterdam and The Hague, the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland in Glasgow, and productions of Carmen, La Bohème, Die Zauberflöte, and Le Nozze di Figaro for Opera Kelowna in British Columbia.
Upcoming engagements include Albert Herring with Opera Orlando, the professional world première of Evan Mack’s Ghosts of Gatsby, Trouble in Tahiti, and Gallantry at Mobile Opera, and West Side Story with Indianapolis Opera. Recent engagements include Rusalka with Opera Orlando and Rigoletto, Tosca, La Bohème, Suor Angelica, Gianni Schicchi, Il tabarro, Le Villi, and La Canterina with Mobile Opera. McDonald conducted the US staged première of Montemezzi’s L’incantesimo for Pittsburgh Festival Opera, where he also conducted productions of Gianni Schicchi, Le Nozze di Figaro, The Merry Widow, and The Magic Flute.
Professional training at the San Francisco Opera Merola Program led directly to an invitation to join the music staff of the New York City Opera. He was subsequently Head of Music and Chorus Master at the Florida Grand Opera in Miami. As chorus master at Glyndebourne, he prepared over twenty-five productions to great critical acclaim for a host of internationally renowned conductors including Idomeneo with Sir Simon Rattle, Die Zauberflöte with Sir Charles Mackerras, and Otello with Vladimir Jurowski.
Additional appearances include the Aspen Music Festival, the Indianapolis Symphonic Choir, Pittsburgh Opera, the Central Iowa Symphony, and Bay View Music Festival. He has worked as a vocal coach at the Manhattan School of Music, Indiana University Opera Theater, University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (CCM), and Royal Conservatoire of Scotland (RCS). He studied piano and collaborative piano at the RCS; opera coaching and accompanying at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, London, and CCM; musicology at the University of Glasgow; and conducting at Indiana University. McDonald joined the FSU College of Music as Director of Opera Activities in the Fall of 2023.
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