Kieren MacMillan

Musicianship; Musical Theatre Lab 4; Chorale

Kieren enjoys an active musical career on both sides of the score. In demand as a pianist, singer, and musical director, he averages over one hundred performances and appearances each year. Recent productions he has music directed include West Side Story (Randolph Young Company), The Musical of Musicals: The Musical! (Ontario premiere, Gypsy Theatre/Bluewater Playhouse), Hats! (Canadian premiere, Stirling Festival Theatre), and The Great American Trailer Park Musical (Toronto premiere, Hart House Theatre). In addition to private vocal coaching, Kieren has also been on the faculty of several vocal and choral festivals and camps (StArt Youth Presenting Art Festival, New York State Summer School for the Arts), and was the inaugural Keynote Speaker at the University of Colorado Boulder’s Entrepreneurship Center for Music. As a composer, Kieren is regularly commissioned by artists and organizations across North America. His catalogue includes musicals, chamber operas, film and theatre scores, pieces for solo instruments and ensembles, vocal and choral works, spoken word compositions, and concert-length multidisciplinary works. Numerous recordings are available on compact disc and digital download, and his compositions have received feature performances at international choral conventions and music festivals, and on national, regional, and internet radio broadcasts. His musical dramas -- seen by thousands of people throughout Canada, the United States, and the United Kingdom -- have been called brilliant (Mark Kanny, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review) and a ?new kind of musical theater smart and moving (Andy Druckenbrod, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette), and have garnered many critical awards (Outstanding New Play and Outstanding Production for Young Audiences, NOW Magazine; Top Ten Concerts in Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette) and nominations (Total Theatre Award, Total Theatre Edinburgh). Kieren received his Bachelor of Music in Piano Performance at the University of British Columbia, and his Master of Music in Composition from the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University where he studied with Paul Cooper and Samuel Jones. He now lives in Toronto with his wife Lada Darewych, their daughter Marianna, and their cat (who has five Ukrainian names).