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Staff Accompanist Michael McCarthy |
| Michael McCarthy is a freelance choral conductor, adjudicator, clinician and accompanist in the New England/New York area. Choral groups under his direction have been invited to perform at MENC Eastern Division conferences and ACDA state conferences. He is Director of the Storrs-based “Renaissance Revival,” an adult chamber choir specializing in the performance of choral and instrumental music of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. Having previously taught in the public schools in Williamstown, Massachusetts and Windham, Connecticut, he still acts as Musical Director for numerous school and community theatrical productions. He spends his summers teaching high school students at the New England Music Camp in Sidney, Maine, where he conducts the mixed chorus, teaches voice and diction, and co-directs the Musical Theater Workshop. A church organist for over thirty-five years, Mr. McCarthy has spent the last twenty as Director of Music and Organist at Saint Joseph Church in Willimantic, Connecticut. He also serves as Pontifical Organist for the Diocesan Choir of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Norwich. He is a former Dean of the Northeastern Connecticut Chapter of the American Guild of Organistst and is currently the chapter’s Placement Officer. He is a member of the American Choral Directors Association, the American Guild of Organists, and the National Association of Pastoral Musicians. He has been inducted into such honorary and professional fraternities as Pi Kappa Lambda, Phi Kappa Phi, and Alpha Chi. Mr. McCarthy holds Bachelor of Music degrees in Music Education and Applied Bassoon from the Hartt School of Music and a Master of Music in Choral Conducting from The University of Connecticut. At UConn, he conducted the University Chorale for eight years and taught courses in choral literature and conducting. He studied choral conducting with Dr. Peter Bagley and organ with Christa Rakich. |