Albert J. McNeil, is an American choral conductor, ethnomusicologist, author, and founder of the Albert McNeil Jubilee Singers.
Education
McNeil earned a bachelor"s and a master"s degrees at the University of California, Los Angeles, and did his doctoral studies at the University of Southern California, the Westminster Choir College of Princeton, and the University of Lausanne, Switzerland. Among his teachers were Raymond Moreman, Charles Hirt, J. Finley Williamson, Roger Wagner, Howard Swan, and Jester Hairston. Doctor McNeil received an Honorary Doctor of Fine Arts degrees from California State University, Northridge and Westminster Choir College.
Career
His career has been dedicated to upholding choral music traditions with the presentation of Negro spirituals and concert music by African American composers. He is Professor Emeritus of Music at the University of California, Davis, where he was director of choral activities and headed the Music Program. Doctor He was formerly, for ten years, Director of the Sacramento Chorale and co-founded the Sacramento Symphony Chorus.
McNeil is the author and editor of a series of music education textbooks.
Membership
He is also a life member of the American Choral Directors Association. He also served two terms as member of the Choral Panel, National Endowment for the Arts.
