Faculty Spotlight: Dr. David McNeil, Jr.

Meet Dr. David McNeil, Jr.

Degrees and Experience
  • DMA, Choral Conducting (Yale University)
  • M.M. (Indiana University)
  • B.A. (Trinity International University)
Biography and Professional Achievements

Dr. David McNeil comes to CCU with a wide range of musical experiences. After earning a bachelor's degree in music education k-12 from Trinity International University (Deerfield, Illinois), McNeil taught for five years at a Christian school in the north suburbs of Chicago. While there, he founded a drama department and oversaw an increase in choral singing participation of nearly 75 percent. He was also responsible for the upper school band and chairing the Fine Arts Department

While pursuing a master's in choral conducting at Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, McNeil was employed teaching voice classes and directing or assisting with a variety of ensembles, including the Symphonic Choir, All Campus Choir, University Chorale, and the opera chorus. He also served as the choir director for St. Paul UMC in Bloomington, Indiana. Most recently, while completing his coursework at Yale and in addition to his own recitals, McNeil held appointments as the assistant director of the Yale Glee Club, co-conductor of the Marquand Chapel Choir, and principal assistant conductor of the Yale Camerata. His thesis research focused on the musical-political interpretation of Henry Purcell's anthems. His teachers have included Dominick DiOrio, Walter Huff, Betsy Burleigh, Jeffrey Douma, Marguerite Brooks, David Hill, and Masaaki Suzuki. McNeil's other musical interests include new music, music of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, and the practice of continuo realization.

McNeil and his wife, Chelsey, along with their three boys, reside in Lakewood.