With guest conductor Dr. Jan Taylor, the choruses of UC
Davis — the Concert Choir and the Chamber Singers — join
to sing the music that Albert J. McNeil (1920–2022) loved and
championed.
McNeil was a transformative force in the music department
during his 21 years as a faculty member (1969–90). He greatly
increased participation in the University Chorus from an
occasional course to a full public performance group, and
created the University Chamber Singers. He founded a music
education program and was an original faculty member of the
African American and African studies program. As founder and
longtime director of the Albert McNeil Jubilee Singers in Los
Angeles, he had a profound effect on the performance,
preservation and presentation of African American spirituals.
Albert J. McNeil, UC Davis professor emeritus of the Department
of Music and an original faculty member and chair of the
Department of African American and African Studies, died on Nov.
29. He was 102.
Prior to accepting the position at UC Davis, Dosman was
the Director of Choral Studies and associate professor at the
University of Southern Maine. He was also the artistic director
of the Community Chorus at South Berwick, the Chorus Master for
the Portland Symphony Orchestra’s Magic of Christmas series and
Opera Maine. He began his collegiate teaching career as the
Director of Choral and Vocal Activities at Colby College and
worked as an adjunct voice professor at Molloy University.
