ABOUT
Dr. Jerry McCoy is Regents Professor of Music Emeritus for the University of North Texas, where between 2000 and 2015 he led the UNT choral program to national and international acclaim while serving as Director of Choral Studies and conductor of the A Cappella Choir. From 1984-2000, Dr. McCoy served as Director of Choral Activities and conductor of the Oklahoma State University Chamber Choir and Concert Chorale, establishing a national and international profile for the choral program. In 2016/17, he served as Visiting Professor of Music at Baylor University where he conducted the A Cappella Choir and taught graduate choral conducting.
2018/2019 marked Dr. McCoy's eleventh and final season as Artistic Director/Conductor of the highly regarded Fort Worth Chorale and Chamber Choir (formerly Schola Cantorum of Texas). He was also founding director of Texas Choral Artists (2001-2006) --a professional choir based in Dallas, and The Stillwater (OK) Chamber Singers (1985-2000), now in its thirty-fourth season.
His publishing history includes a choral music series with Santa Barbara Music Publishers and current service as Chief Consultant for Digital Publishing Inc. (Dallas).
From 2007 to 2015 he served as a member of the National Executive Committee for the 20,000-member American Choral Directors Association (ACDA), serving as the organization’s national president from 2009 to 2011.
Jerry is a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin and UT- Arlington. He is married to singer, voice professor, and choral music artist Julie McCoy.
Graduates
Under his leadership, UNT graduate students were named to faculty positions in choral music at forty-six universities in the U.S., Mexico, and South Korea. They lead nineteen professional or civic choirs across the U.S. and South Korea and serve major congregations in Georgia, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Texas, Washington, and across South Korea. Many of his graduates also hold national, regional, and state leadership positions within the ACDA.
Awards and Honors
In 2019 the NCCO awarded Dr. McCoy its Honorary Life Membership Award for his outstanding work at the university level. Dr. McCoy was honored to serve as one of the ACDA Legacy Conductors for the 2019 national conference. In 2018 he was nominated for a $10,000 grant as part of the national TIAA Difference Makers Program. In early 2019, portions of his A Cappella Choir's 2010 TMEA performance were used as a sound track for a new short film titled Combination Fried Rice, this award winning film was part of Tropfest 26, Australia’s largest and most popular short film festival. Additional honors include: the Texas Choral Directors Association’s prestigious Choirmaster Award, the OSU Wise-Diggs-Berry Award for Faculty Teaching in the Arts, the Oklahoma Choral Directors Association Director of Distinction Award, the University of Texas at Arlington Outstanding Alumnus Award, and numerous research and study grants.
Vetted and Invited Performances
His choirs have been featured on the programs of the Association of British Choral Directors national conference (Chester, England), the Daejeon (South, Korea) International Choral Festival, the Taipei (Taiwan) International Choral Festival, four national ACDA conferences, the national conference of the National Collegiate Choral Organization (Cincinnati) , the MENC National Conference (New Orleans) and the OAKE national conference (New Orleans). His choirs have also been featured on six conferences of the Southwestern Division of ACDA, two Texas Choral Directors Association conferences, and three conferences each of TMEA and OMEA.
Guest Work
Dr. McCoy's work and study within the international choral community have taken him to Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, China, Cuba, Denmark, Czech Republic, England, France, Germany, Ireland, South Korea, Sweden, Taiwan, Venezuela, and Wales (totaling thirty-nine events).
He has been a guest conductor/clinician/adjudicator in forty-two US states, including sixty events (clinicians, masterclasses, festivals) for fifty US and South Korean universities. He has served as the headliner/conductor for the Korean Federation for Choral Music (Gyeongju), as Jury Panel Chair for the Busan (South Korea) International Choral Festival, and as a member of three jury panels for the World Choir Games (Shaoxing, China; Cincinnati, Ohio; and Graz, Austria), and Alberta Choral Fest South (Calgary, Canada). He also served as guest clinician/lecturer for Music I Vasternorrland (Swedish Choral Directors Association, Sundsvall, Sweden). He currently serves on the international honorary board of INTERKULTUR (World Choir Games). Guest engagements for 2019-2021 include appearances in appearances in California, Georgia (2), Kansas, Missouri (2) Oklahoma, Oregon, and Texas (4).
Recordings
His commercial recordings include releases by Klavier Records and GIA Music Publications, as well as the premiere recording of Jake Heggie’s Ahab Symphony, released on CD Baby. He also made six recordings for the UNT College of Music and Oklahoma State University.