Professor and Director of Choral Activities Edward Maclary to Retire After Two Decades of Service
March 09, 2022
Esteemed choral conductor and pedagogue built partnerships with major performing arts organizations and leaves lasting legacy.
Professor of Music and Director of Choral Activities Edward Maclary has announced that he will retire at the end of this academic year after serving over twenty years on the University of Maryland School of Music (SOM) faculty.
Prior to Maclary’s faculty appointment in 2000, the choral program at Maryland looked quite different and even resided in a different building on campus: Tawes Hall—now the English building. It wasn’t until 2000 that the music wing opened in the new Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center and the SOM moved into its current home on campus.
At the time of Maclary’s appointment, the choral program housed two choirs: the University Chorale and the Maryland Chorus. After the Maryland Chorus finished its renowned Handel oratorio project begun by Maclary’s predecessor Paul Traver, the ensemble was retired. In its place, Maclary added a number of additional choirs that provided undergraduate music majors and non-music majors a much greater variety and depth of choral singing opportunities. The new ensembles included the UMD Chamber Singers, UMD Concert Choir, UMD Treble Choir, UMD Men’s Chorus and the Maryland Opera Chorus. In addition, a UMD Summer Chorus was founded to serve area community members as well as the university population.
Under Maclary’s leadership, the UMD Chamber Singers have established a global reputation for excellence in performance and serve as the flagship choral ensemble for the SOM. They have toured frequently both nationally and internationally. In 2011, they won first prize in the mixed choir category at the Florilège Vocal de Tours in France and the Prix Ronsard for excellence in the performance of Renaissance music. Maclary was awarded the competition’s title of “Chef de Choeur.” In December of 2013, the ensemble performed Christmas music at the White House by special invitation. In 2014, they were selected by the International Federation for Choral Music to represent the United States at the 10th World Choral Symposium in South Korea. Throughout their history the UMD Chamber Singers have sung by invitation at conferences of the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA) and the National Collegiate Choral Organization (NCCO). In 2019, the SOM served as the host for the 8th biennial conference of NCCO and the UMD Chamber Singers were the featured artists presenting a program of works by Brahms, Stravinsky, Schönberg and a world premiere commission by SOM composition alumna Dale Trumbore ’09. Most recently the ensemble performed at the Eastern Division Conference of the ACDA in Boston in February 2022.
This premier ensemble transforms into the UMD Concert Choir when combined with the University Chorale. Providing the larger choral ensemble necessary for full-scale collaborations on campus and beyond, the UMD Concert Choir has flourished under Maclary’s leadership. Its most recent project was a partnership with the UMD Symphony Orchestra to perform Mahler’s “Resurrection” Symphony, a production that featured over one hundred student performers in the chorus and garnered a sold-out audience and a standing ovation.
Regionally, the UMD Concert Choir has become the ensemble of choice for both the National Symphony Orchestra (NSO) and the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra (BSO). These partnerships give UMD students the unique opportunity to perform in a professional environment under the direction of the world’s leading conductors including Marin Alsop, Christoph Eschenbach, Iván Fischer, Nicholas McGegan, Gianandrea Noseda, Helmuth Rilling and Nathalie Stutzmann, among many others. The UMD Concert Choir has performed at prestigious venues including the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall, the Music Center at Strathmore and in 2019 made its Carnegie Hall debut with a critically acclaimed program of music by Rossini and Liszt with the NSO led by Music Director Gianandrea Noseda.
The ensemble’s repertoire spans more than four centuries and includes masterworks such as Bach’s “St. Matthew Passion,” Mozart's “Mass in C minor,” Brahms’ “Ein deutsches Requiem” and Britten’s “War Requiem.” In addition, the UMD Concert Choir has given dozens of performances of Handel’s “Messiah” with the NSO at the Kennedy Center over the past twenty seasons.
“Under Ed’s leadership, the UMD Choral Activities program has grown and flourished into one of the nation’s most highly honored choral programs,” said SOM Director Gregory Miller. “It is known for the professional level of performance by its choirs, its embrace of the entire spectrum of choral repertoire, and its training of the next generation of conductors, teachers and professional choral artists.”
In addition to preparing UMD choral students for professional performance careers, the importance of service and engaging the local community has always been central to Maclary’s efforts. He launched several community engagement initiatives including the High School Choral Invitational as well as bringing the beloved holiday tradition of the annual “Festival of Lessons and Carols” to Maryland. He also founded the SOM’s Bach Cantata Series, a lunchtime favorite bringing together faculty, students and community members with the goal of performing the repertoire of the over 200 extant Bach cantatas. In addition, Maclary served the SOM in an administrative capacity as the associate director for academic affairs from 2017–19.
Maclary’s greatest legacy lies with the success of his conducting students that he has mentored both here and around the country, who have gone on to illustrious careers in and beyond the music industry. In addition to leading the graduate choral conducting program at Maryland, he also served as the director of the masterclass in conducting for the Oregon Bach Festival from 2014–17. He has also led masterclasses at many of the leading music schools in the United States. Graduates of the choral conducting program at Maryland are now in academic and professional leadership positions throughout the nation and singers from the UMD Choral Activities program populate all of the United States military choirs as well as America’s top professional choral ensembles.
Kathryn Hylton D.M.A. ’20 joined Pennsylvania State University’s School of Music faculty as associate director of choral activities directly after her graduation from Maryland. Hylton said that her three years of doctoral studies in choral conducting with Maclary prepared her for her current role in higher education.
“I was afforded tremendous musical opportunities at Maryland that many conductors don’t see until after they earn their degree,” said Hylton. “The chance to collaborate and perform with the high-caliber musicians of the National Symphony Orchestra and Baltimore Symphony Orchestra as part of regular coursework not only shows the uniqueness of the program Dr. Maclary cultivated, but also the trust and confidence he placed in each of his students.” Hylton explained how her professor and mentor pushed her and student colleagues to be stronger musicians and more confident people.
During retirement, Maclary looks forward to a schedule of guest teaching and conducting as well as writing on choral technique and performance. He and his wife Rita Shapiro, also now retired after leading the NSO as executive director for fifteen years, have lots of long delayed travel plans to fulfill.
Even so, Maclary still has a lot on his plate before his final academic year of teaching comes to a close in late May. Major choral performances this spring include a fully staged theatrical production of the Brahms “Ein deutsches Requiem” on April 1 in a moving collaboration with the UMD Chamber Singers and the Washington based professional choir, The Thirteen. This will be followed by UMD Choral Activities’ Spring Choral Collage on April 10 and the UMD Chamber Singers’ Spring Choral Showcase on May 1. After a season of virtual performances recorded during the pandemic and before COVID-19 vaccines were widely available in the United States, it is clear that Maclary took full advantage of this season’s return to in-person performances to go out on a high note.
“My time at the University of Maryland was the greatest gift I could have possibly received as a teacher and conductor,” said Maclary. “Over the past twenty-two years, the UMD Choirs have been built upon the efforts of excellent students, colleagues and staff members too numerous to mention. That said, I do wish to pay special tribute to my partner and friend, Choral Activities Administrator Lauri Johnson, for her enormous contributions to the program’s success. It has been an honor and a privilege for me to work closely with her and with so many talented and dedicated people; I say thank you with my heart full of love and respect for each of them.”
Edward Maclary headshot by DJ Corey Photography.