Andrew Megill

Andrew Megill is recognized as one of America’s leading choral conductors, admired for his passionate artistry and unusually wide-ranging repertoire, which extends from early music to newly composed works. His performances have been praised for their “power, subtlety, and nuance” and “profound spirituality” (Le Devoir, Montreal). He was named Music of the Baroque’s chorus director in April 2022.

Andrew Megill frequently leads North America’s finest professional choirs. In addition to Music of the Baroque, he is the conductor of the Montreal Symphony Orchestra Chorus and Artistic Advisor and Director of Choral Activities for the Carmel Bach Festival. Recent highlights include guest conductor for the Thirteen in Washington, D.C. and the Choir of Trinity Wall Street in Manhattan. He also regularly collaborates with the world’s leading orchestras, including the Cleveland Orchestra, Dresden Philharmonie, Montreal Symphony Orchestra, National Symphony, and the New York Philharmonic for conductors such as Pierre Boulez, Charles Dutoit, Joseph Flummerfelt, Rafael Frühbeck du Burgos, Alan Gilbert, Neeme Järvi, Zdenek Macal, Kurt Masur, Zubin Mehta, Kent Nagano, John Nelson, Rafael Payare, and Julius Rudel. An accomplished orchestral conductor, he has led the Montreal Symphony Orchestra, Spoleto Festival Orchestra, I Musici de Montréal Chamber Orchestra, and Bang on a Can All-Stars.

Andrew Megill is particularly admired for his performances of Baroque choral works. He regularly collaborates with leaders in the field of historically informed performance, including Masaaki Suzuki, Ton Koopman, Bruno Weil, Andrea Marcon, Herve Niquet, and Paul McCreesh. He has conducted many period-instrument orchestras and has led Bach festivals at the University of Illinois, Westminster Choir College, the University of Missouri-Kansas City, and in Ireland at the Dublin Institute of Technology.

Andrew Megill previously served as Music Director of the Masterwork Chorus and Orchestra (with whom he frequently performed in Carnegie and Avery Fisher Halls) and Chorusmaster for the Spoleto Festival USA. He has been a guest artist with the Yale Institute of Sacred Music, TENET vocal ensemble, the Juilliard Opera Center, and Emmanuel Music (Boston), and served as interim choirmaster for Trinity Church (Wall Street) in Manhattan.

Andrew Megill has recently been named the Arthur L. Rice, Jr. Professor in Music and Director of Choral Organizations at the Bienen School of Music at Northwestern University. He previously served as the Suzanne and William Allen Distinguished Professor of Music and Director of Choral Activities at the University of Illinois (Urbana-Champaign); before moving to Illinois, he taught at Westminster Choir College for over 20 years.

Andrew Megill is also a passionate advocate for music of our own time. He has conducted regional or world premieres of works by Caleb Burhans, Paul Chihara, Dominic DiOrio, Sven-David Sandstrom, Caroline Shaw, Lewis Spratlan, Steven Stucky, Jon Magnussen, Stephen Andrew Taylor, Arvo Pärt, and Krzysztof Penderecki. He has collaborated with the Mark Morris Dance Company, folk singer Judy Collins, puppeteer Basil Twist, and filmmaker Ridley Scott. Recordings of choirs conducted or prepared by him may be heard on the Decca, EMI, Canteloupe, Naxos, Albany, and CBC labels.