Grammy-winning conductor returns to lead Westminster choirs

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Dr. Donald Nally ’87, who has joined the Westminster Choir College faculty this academic year as a full-time visiting professor, will conduct both the Westminster Choir and the Westminster Symphonic Choir.

“Returning to Westminster as a full-time faculty member is both an unexpected and joyfully welcome development,” says Nally, who earned his Master of Music from Westminster Choir College while studying with renowned conductor Joseph Flummerfelt. “I hope I am able to give to our students what, many years ago, I gained from the incredible investment of faculty and colleagues at the school, while bringing my own specializations — particularly contemporary music and texts of social relevance — into the mix.”

Nally previously served as an artist-in-residence for the past two years. In addition to leading students in the Westminster Choir and the Westminster Symphonic Choir this academic year, Nally will also work with graduate students in the choral conducting program.

“Dr. Nally is one of the nation’s leaders in the field of conducting,” says Dr. Jason Vodicka, associate dean of Rider's College of Arts and Sciences and associate professor of music education at Westminster Choir College. “Having him here full time to lead our choirs and conducting program is a testament to his belief in the mission of Westminster Choir College. Our students are incredibly fortunate to learn from him.” 

Nally, who holds the title of John W. Beattie Chair of Music Emeritus at Northwestern University, is a frequent guest artist at universities. His previous academic appointments include Yale, Harvard and the University of Chicago. He has commissioned nearly 200 works and produced 33 recordings with his ensemble, The Crossing, winning three Grammy Awards for Best Choral Performance. In 2019, Rider University awarded Nally an honorary Doctorate of Humanities.

Nally has also held distinguished tenures as chorus master for the Lyric Opera of Chicago, Welsh National Opera and Opera Philadelphia. He has prepared choruses for numerous internationally recognized conductors with the Philadelphia Orchestra, New York Philharmonic and Los Angeles Philharmonic, among others. His 72-chapter series Rising w/ The Crossing, a response to the coronavirus pandemic, has been preserved by the National Archives of the Library of Congress as a cultural artifact.

Now in its 104th year, the Westminster Choir has been at the forefront of American choral music since its founding. Praised by The New York Times for its “full-bodied, incisive singing,” the Westminster Choir also forms the core of the Westminster Symphonic Choir, which has recorded and performed with major orchestras under virtually every internationally acclaimed conductor of the past 87 years. 

This year’s performance schedule will take the choirs to New York City, Philadelphia and Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, among other locations.