How the new Director of the MDSO is navigating the challenges of COVID-19
National Public Radio (NPR) affiliate WILL-AM recently featured Dr. William McClain, conductor and director of the Millikin-Decatur Symphony Orchestra (MDSO), on its popular docuseries "Classical:BTS."
Classical:BTS is devoted to revealing the lesser-seen and heard stories around classical music in central Illinois. The series focuses on each performer's personal journey, elevating the beauty of their music with in-depth portraits of different performers and classical craftspeople.
The Classical:BTS episode featuring Dr. McClain takes a closer look at the musical journey of the new MDSO conductor and music director. Dr. McClain has conducted professional, community and youth orchestras across the country, and performed at renowned venues such as Carnegie Hall and Sheremetev Palace in Russia.
Growing up in Washington, D.C., Dr. McClain was raised by two parents who were in the civilian military. "I grew up in a Baptist Church where even then I was learning about how a composer or writer might put together different styles, different feelings and emotions to get across a message," he says.
Dr. McClain has conducted for over 20 years and has been honored by the International Academy of Advanced Conducting. He has also appeared as a guest conductor with the Fort Wayne Philharmonic, West Virginia Symphony Orchestra, the Syracuse Symphony Orchestra and the Onondaga Civic Orchestra in upstate New York.
"Many will ask about how a conductor gets started and my mentor was the one who encouraged me to continue in performance, and to be the best player that I could be," McClain said.
Prior to Millikin, Dr. McClain served as an assistant professor of music, director of orchestra and coordinator of strings at Georgia College & State University in Milledgeville, Ga. Prior to Georgia College & State University, Dr. McClain taught undergraduate viola at Ithaca College and the University of Maryland at College Park as a graduate assistant. He also taught viola and violin at Huston-Tillotson College and Mercer University. He served as a former faculty member at Phillips Exeter Academy, where he was named the John and Elizabeth Phillips Fellow.
An accomplished violist, Dr. McClain has recorded with the Adriane String Quartet and maintains an active chamber music and solo recital schedule.
"Finding that emotion, finding that story behind the music, if you can somehow reflect that, even when you are working hard and fixing notes, that level of rediscovery and energy into music I think is what I really gained from my first conductor, and it was after that when I said 'this is what I want to do,'" he said.
As a conductor, McClain says there is a connection and a confidence that he brings to the podium because he knows what it's like to be a performer. "If you watch the great conductors, no matter if you can see their face or you are watching from the back, you can really feel and see the energy and see the music," he says.
McClain says the Millikin-Decatur Symphony Orchestra is a unique ensemble where the idea of Performance Learning is put into practice immediately for the students. "You have a professional orchestra that is established, but there is a student component where students are actually able to learn and put their ideas into practice," he said.
In his new role, Dr. McClain finds himself navigating the challenges of COVID-19, but he is holding on to positive lessons particularly when it comes to livestreaming.
"Shorter videos and using social media … these are things that we have always been aware of, but I don't think we could have ever imagined that we would use them to this degree," McClain said. "It's at the moment, when all the musicians are gathered to work with each other, I like to remind the musicians how joyful this music is or how passionate the music is. I pay a lot of attention to detail and I expect the orchestra to not ever let a minute go by where you're not specifically conveying something."