Will McLean, DMA

William (Will) McLean is a music educator-conductor who currently serves as Assistant Professor and Associate Director of Choral Activities at Baylor University, where he conducts the Concert Choir, Bella Voce, and instructs both graduate and undergraduate students in conducting and choral literature. Prior to Baylor, McLean most recently served as the Associate Conductor of the Dallas Symphony Chorus and served on the faculty at the University of Texas at Arlington, where he conducted the A Cappella Choir. During his doctoral work at the University of North Texas (UNT), McLean taught undergraduate conducting and conducted the UNT Chorale, the university’s tenor-bass ensemble. Prior to his graduate studies, McLean taught public high school for eight years in Oregon and Texas; most recently, he was the Director of Choirs at South Salem High School in Oregon. While at South Salem, the Symphonic Choir (SATB) was invited to perform at the 2019 National ACDA Convention in Kansas City, MO. Additionally, choirs at South Salem under his direction received invitations to perform at the OMEA state music education conference and toured nationally.

McLean has presented sessions at national, regional, and state ACDA, NAfME conferences, and the International Symposium for Research in Choral Singing. Topics of these presentations have included state and national choral programming trends, singer agency in choral environments, and pedagogical repertoire selection. His recent research on choral repertoire trends in the United States was featured in the Choral Journal in the May 2023 issue. A fierce advocate for the creation of new music, McLean has collaborated with numerous composers in the commissioning of new choral works, including the likes of Mari Esabel Valverde, Paul John Rudoi, and others. As a proponent for furthering and advocating for choral music, McLean has served on the OMEA Executive Board as the Choral Chair and on the board of Oregon ACDA. 

McLean holds a DMA in choral conducting from the University of North Texas, a master’s degree in conducting from Baylor University, and a bachelor’s degree in music education from St. Olaf College. In his spare time, he enjoys all things coffee, cooking, hiking, and spending time with his wife, Jenna, and their dog Hildy.