FORTHCOMING
Songs for a Shifting World — album release
Songs for a Shifting World, performed by Black Square Ensemble, will be released on February 19, 2027, on Leaf Music.
Additional performances will be announced as confirmed.
RECENT MILESTONES
Songs for a Shifting World — premiere, recording & performance
Black Square Ensemble premiered Songs for a Shifting World in November 2025, following initial rehearsals and a sold-out debut concert at the River Room in Willimantic, Connecticut. The performance featured eight movements from the cycle, with recording sessions taking place immediately afterward.
In July 2026, selections from Songs for a Shifting World were presented as part of the Hartford Jazz Society’s Paul Brown Monday Night Jazz Series in Bushnell Park, Hartford, Connecticut. The performance anchored the series’ social justice–themed evening and was broadcast live on WWUH 91.3 FM.
The Paul Brown Series is recognized by the Library of Congress as the oldest free, continuously running jazz festival in the United States.
SELECTED COMPOSITIONS & COLLABORATIONS
Guest Conductor: The Water Gap Jazz Orchestra
October 26, 2026 · Deer Head Inn, Delaware Water Gap, Pennsylvania
Earl MacDonald guest-conducted the Water Gap Jazz Orchestra in an evening devoted to his music for big band. The Deer Head Inn is billed as the oldest continuously running jazz club in the country, and it has hosted Phil Woods, Al Cohn, and Keith Jarrett, whose trio recorded At the Deer Head Inn there. That makes it a natural home for an orchestra that began as the Phil Woods Big Band. The program paired Earl’s arrangements of Dizzy Gillespie’s “Woody ’n’ You,” McCoy Tyner’s “Fly With the Wind,” and Jackie McLean’s “Appointment in Ghana” with originals including “Small Town, Big Band” and “Sordid Sort of Fellow.”
Jazz & Justice Suite: A Declaration in Seven Movements
Premiered in April 2026 at von der Mehden Recital Hall, University of Connecticut.
This original suite, composed and performed by UConn Jazz faculty, responds musically to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Each movement addresses a specific human rights concern through composition, narration, and improvisation.
Performers included Earl MacDonald (piano), Leala Cyr (voice), and members of the UConn Jazz faculty.
Presented in collaboration with the UConn Human Rights Institute.
EDUCATION & PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITY
Alongside composing and performing, Earl continues his work as Director of Jazz Studies at the University of Connecticut, teaching, composing, and mentoring students while developing new large- and small-ensemble projects.
He also regularly serves as an adjudicator and clinician at regional and national jazz festivals, including education-centered events focused on performance, improvisation, and ensemble development.
This page reflects recent and ongoing work. Details are updated as projects evolve.