Since 1991, Musica Sacra (Latin for "Sacred Music") has performed sacred masterworks for chorus, vocal soloists and orchestra, with repertoire ranging from the Renaissance to the present. Musica Sacra currently performs four concerts with orchestra each year in Rockhurst University, Arrupe Hall auditorium, with additional appearances throughout the Kansas City community, including Powell Gardens, the Jewish Community Center of Greater Kansas City and the Bachathon at Grace and Holy Trinity Cathedral. Director Timothy L. McDonald augments these performances with Live Program Notes.

Musica Sacra is an ensemble-in-residence at Rockhurst University and is presented under the auspices of The Center for Arts and Letters, an alliance of the performing groups and programs associated with Rockhurst. The chorus has recorded three compact discs. Two of them, "Christmas in Carol and Song" and Mozart, Requiem in D Minor, K. 626 are available for purchase.

Timothy L. McDonald

Timothy L. McDonald is a professor of music in the College of Arts and Sciences at Rockhurst University. For more than 30 years, he has served as a choral and orchestral conductor, educator and author. He directed choirs at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, NJ and Lafayette College in Easton, PA. In 1991, McDonald became the Director of Music at Rockhurst University. Currently holding the rank of Professor of Music, McDonald served as Chair of the school's Department of Communication and Fine Arts, Chair of the Division of Humanities, and Chair of the Faculty Senate.

A Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Rutgers University, McDonald holds a doctorate and master's degree in music and a bachelor's degree in economics. Rockhurst University granted him awards for distinguished service and for scholarship. The Kansas City Musical Club selected him for its 2006 Award for "outstanding contributions to the cultural life of Kansas City. " Sigma Alpha Iota, the International Music Fraternity, named him a national "Friend of the Arts" in 2010. He is author of book published by the American Institute of Musicology and articles in Choral Journal and elsewhere.

McDonald is well known in the Kansas City region for his media work. He writes regularly for the Kansas City Star and previously wrote for newspapers in PA and KS. For years he served as co-host of the weekly Arts Preview Program and daily midday host on Classical KXTR. He conducted hundreds of print and radio interviews with artists such as Yo-Yo Ma, Emmanuel Ax, Charles Dutoit and Michael Stern. McDonald has appeared as a guest on KCUR-FM on "Up to Date" and the "Walt Bodine Show." He appeared onstage as "Music Host" for two Kansas City Symphony "Classics Uncorked" concerts and has given pre-concert lectures at the Carlsen Center of Johnson County Community College and Village Presbyterian Church. McDonald is choir director at Holy Spirit Catholic Church in Overland Park, and is a published author and presenter on Catholic church music. He lives in Overland Park with his wife Adrienne and daughters Noelle and Melanie.

Your support makes it possible.

Support for Musica Sacra’s 2017-2018 season is provided by The Stanley H. Durwood Foundation; Muriel McBrien Kauffman Foundation; The Robert R. Lakas Fund; The Helen G. Bonfils Endowment for the Fine and Performing Arts; the R.C. Kemper Charitable Trust; The Miller Mellor Association; Patricia Cleary Miller; the Richard and Jane Bruening Endowed Fund for the Arts; the Missouri Arts Council, a state agency; Rockhurst University and The Center for Arts and Letters.

Make a donation to Musica Sacra online or by contacting Rockhurst's advancement office.

Recordings

To purchase recordings, call 816-501-4828.

• O Magnum Mysterium 
• Christmas in Carol and Song 
• Mozart Requiem; Missa Brevis in D