Bernard McDonald
- Email Address bmmcdonald@fsu.edu
- Phone 850-644-3424
- Office HMU 002A
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 traihas worked with major opera companies throughout North America, Europe, and the Far East. International engagements include the New National Theatre Tokyo, Netherlands Opera, Netherlands Radio Choir, Dutch National Opera Academy, and the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, as well as productions of Carmen, La Bohème, Die Zauberflöte, and Le Nozze di Figaro with Opera Kelowna in British Columbia.
Engagements in 2026–27 include Le Nozze di Figaro (Indianapolis Opera), Don Giovanni and Albert Herring (Opera Orlando), Mozart and Salieri and The Magic Flute (Mobile Opera). Recent engagements include Rigoletto, Tosca, La Bohème, Suor Angelica, Gianni Schicchi, Il tabarro, Le Villi, La Canterina, Ghosts of Gatsby, Trouble in Tahiti, and Gallantry with Mobile Opera; West Side Story (associate conductor) with Indianapolis Opera; and Rusalka with Opera Orlando. He conducted the U.S. staged première of Montemezzi’s L’incantesimo for Pittsburgh Festival Opera, where he also conducted Gianni Schicchi, Le Nozze di Figaro, The Merry Widow, and The Magic Flute.
After professional training at the San Francisco Opera Merola Program, he joined the music staff of the New York City Opera and later served as Head of Music and Chorus Master at Florida Grand Opera in Miami. As Chorus Master at Glyndebourne, he prepared more than twenty-five productions for conductors including Sir Simon Rattle (Idomeneo), Sir Charles Mackerras (Die Zauberflöte), and Vladimir Jurowski (Otello).
Additional appearances include the Aspen Music Festival, Indianapolis Symphonic Choir, Pittsburgh Opera, 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, the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (CCM), and the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. He studied piano and collaborative piano at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland; opera coaching and accompanying at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and CCM; musicology at the University of Glasgow; and conducting at Indiana University.
Bernard McDonald serves as Director of Opera and the Marcus B. and Betty Graves Shelfer Professor of Musical Theatre and Opera at Florida State University.
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