Hugh Macdonald, Ph.D., the Avis Blewett Professor of Music, has been appointed chair of the Department of Music in Arts and Sciences. He succeeds Craig Monson, Ph.D., professor of music, who had served in the position since 1993.
Macdonald, a British citizen, joined the music department as Avis Blewett Professor in 1987. From 1980-87, he was the Gardiner Professor of Music at Scotland's Glasgow University. From 1971 to 1980, Macdonald was University Lecturer in Music and a fellow of St. John's College at Oxford University in England. From 1966 to 1971, he served as University Lecturer in Music and a fellow of Pembroke College at Cambridge University in England. He also was a visiting professor of musicology at Indiana University in Bloomington in 1979.
Macdonald received a bachelor's degree in mathematics and music, with first-class honors, in 1961 from Cambridge. He received a master's degree in 1966 and a doctorate in 1969, both in music and both from Cambridge.
He is a renowned expert on the music of Hector Berlioz and has published extensively on the works of the French Romantic composer. Macdonald is the general editor of "New Berlioz Edition," a 26-volume collection of the composer's complete works published by Bärenreiter-Verlag, a German publishing company.
In 1992, Macdonald authenticated a score of Berlioz's first major work, the 14-movement "Messe Solennelle," composed in 1824. The score, thought to have been destroyed in 1827 by the composer, was discovered in a Belgian church by a retired schoolteacher. Macdonald edited the work, which since has been performed in Europe and the United States and has been recorded by Philips Records.
Macdonald is well-known for translating operas into English from German, French and Italian. He also regularly presents pre-concert talks at Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra performances in Powell Symphony Hall.
In addition to music scholarship, Macdonald is actively involved in the performance of music. He is an accomplished pianist and plays violin, viola and harpsichord. He also has conducted orchestras and choruses in Europe.
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