Full Name
Brian McWhorter
First Name
Brian
Last Name
McWhorter
Affiliation
Faculty
Title
Professor of Music
Additional Title
Music Director, Eugene Ballet & Orchestra Next
Phone
5413463783
Office
152 Gerlinger Annex
Office Hours
T: 9-11am online: https://uoregon.zoom.us/my/mcwhorter
F: 9-11a in my office or online: https://uoregon.zoom.us/my/mcwhorter
F: 9-11a in my office or online: https://uoregon.zoom.us/my/mcwhorter
Departments
Clark Honors College
Music
Affiliated Departments
Music
Programs, Research and Outreach
Conducting
Dance
General Music
Music Performance
Interests
Performing Arts, nuance, gesture
Research Website
Profile Section
Education
- MMus 2000, The Juilliard School
- BMus 1998, University of Oregon
Biography
Brian McWhorter is Professor of Music at the University of Oregon and Faculty Fellow at the Clark Honors College. Previously, he held positions at Manhattan School of Music, Louisiana State University, and Princeton University. He holds degrees in performance from the University of Oregon and Juilliard.
Among the classes that he has taught, a sampling might include: Louis Armstrong, the Sound of a Century; Film, Music, and Glass Ceilings; and The Velocity of Gesture, or Intro to Air Guitar. McWhorter’s research interests include the creative process, the art and design of practice, cross-disciplinary notions of nuance, and the socio-economic challenges that accompany a life in the performing arts.
Having survived a passing fixation with the trumpet, McWhorter is now primarily focused on conducting. (Paradoxically, conducting doesn’t yield much sound, yet he still considers himself a musician.) He serves as the Music Director and Conductor for Orchestra Next and the Eugene Ballet. Since 2012, he has conducted every major production for the Ballet and has appeared as guest conductor for numerous ensembles and productions.
McWhorter’s discography spans many genres from contemporary chamber to orchestral, improvised music to pop and rock. McWhorter’s lone foray into the world of sculpture – The Extract-o-Rama – became the subject of an award-winning documentary on the creative process called I Live for Art (2014).
Publications
SELECTED DISCOGRAPHY
- Orchestra Next - The Nutcracker [ONrecords]
- Orchestra Next - The Snow Queen [Innova]
- Steve Owen - Stand Up Eight [Origin]
- Beta Collide - psst...PSST! [Innova]
- Mark Applebaum - Sock Monkey [Innova]
- Meridian Arts Ensemble - Timbrando (Channel Classics) (NPR Review)
- Meridian Arts Ensemble - Brink (Channel Classics, Holland)
- Bliggidy Blam - formal i. (8bells)
- American Brass Quintet - American Visions (Summit Records)
- Extension Ensemble - New York Presence (Summit)
- New Jersey Symphony Orchestra - Pines of Rome DVD (AIX Records)
- Oregon Bach Festival - Penderecki’s Credo (Grammy Award) (Hänssler)
Updated