DAN GRAZIANO
The New Jersey Symphony Gospel Chorus will perform in Newark, Dec. 14.
Gregory D. McDaniel began his classical music career as a singer, so you can bet he will sing along as he conducts New Jersey Symphony’s “A Gospel Holiday” concert, Dec. 14 at 2 p.m. at Science Park High School in Newark.
But the symphony’s 2024-25 Colton Conducting Fellow will also keep an eye on the beat while leading the orchestra alongside the New Jersey Symphony Gospel Chorus, a blend of choristers from The Count Basie Center Gospel Choir and singers from the Newark area, under the direction of Gwen Moten.
“There’s going to be something for everyone and a little mix of everything,” McDaniel says of the program, which blends the rich musical traditions of gospel with traditional holiday carols and other classic works. He plans to double down on the inspirational messages of hope and joy that holiday music has to offer.
GREGORY D. McDANIEL
The Houston native grew up with gospel music. His mother filled their home with all kinds of music, including R&B, pop and rock, and at church, he was exposed to gospel choirs and the music of popular gospel artists, including Richard Smallwood, James Hall, Ricky Dillard and Kirk Franklin.
“I grew up with those names and those choirs, just listening to them and loving it,” he says. “I remember always perking to attention when the choir would sing in church; those memories are very much etched into my mind. So when Erin (Erin Lunsford Norton, New Jersey Symphony’s vice president of artistic planning) asked me if I’d be interested in doing a gospel Christmas concert, I said, ‘Give me an orchestra, give me a choir, give me the pieces — I’ll do it!’ ”
Some of the programming was already set in motion before he joined the symphony in October, but his signature can be found in a handful of selections, including “Calypso Christmas Medley” (various, arr. Johnie Dean).
“We were wracking our brains for what we could do as an opener,” he recalls. Norton asked if he knew of any good arrangers and he turned to Dean, an acquaintance, who is a composer of church music and teaches music in Lexington, Kentucky. Dean’s medley includes the Caribbean folk songs “The Virgin Mary Had a Baby Boy” and “Mary’s Boy Child.”
“It’s a nice little start to this concert,” he says. “I’m sure the weather will be cold by the time we do this, so it will be nice to have something that sounds like it’s from the Caribbean Islands to kind of warm things up.”
There will also be a selection of beloved Christmas carols by Leroy Anderson. “Leory Anderson is a name we may not know of, but we know a lot of his music,” says McDaniel. The late American composer of light orchestral music was one of the most popular arrangers of holiday evergreens, including “Deck the Halls,” “Jingle Bells,” “Silent Night” and “Joy to the World.” Anderson’s “Suite of Carols” medley, arranged for string orchestra, incorporates seasonal music from around the world including “Bring a Torch, Jeanette, Isabella” from 17th century France; “Wassail Song,” a traditional English carol; and “Pastores a Belén,” a 17th century Spanish carol.
GREGORY D. McDANIEL
The program will also include two traditional holiday pieces arranged by Michael McElroy & Joseph Joubert.
” ‘O Come, O Come Emmanuel’ is kind of a smooth-jazz, smooth-gospel number, and a little more reverent,” McDaniel says, “and ‘Go Tell It on the Mountain’ is a little more fun and exciting.”
McDaniel is a longtime admirer of McElroy and Joubert, writing partners known for their unique arrangements of American gospel and theater songbooks. In 1994, McElroy founded Broadway Inspirational Voices (originally called The Broadway Gospel Choir), a New York-based community choir that carries out social impact initiatives nationwide.
“I’ve been listening to them and following them long before I came here,” McDaniel says. “Joubert is a huge name in the Broadway world as a musician, music director and arranger. He’s a phenomenal pianist and has done a lot of sacred music, so I’m happy we’re doing some of his arrangements.”
Another piece McDaniel is looking forward to is “Hallelujah (to the Newborn King), Jesus is Born” by Newark’s B. Dexter Allgood, which was originally performed by The Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir. Also on the program is Allgood’s arrangement for “O, Magnify the Lord” by Michael O’Shields. “Allgood is a favorite musician in Newark so I’m really looking forward to collaborating with him on that,” McDaniel says. (Allgood and Moten are colleagues at the Basie choir: she is the music director and he is the assistant music director.)
Brass choir will take the spotlight in “Ding, Dong, Merrily on High” arranged by Luther Henderson and “Deck the Halls” arranged by Jack Gale. The program also will include “Hallelujah to the King of Glory” (Jason Webb, arr. Brad Henderson), “It Came Upon a Midnight Clear” (traditional, arr. Morton Gould) and “Let There Be Peace on Earth” (Jill Jackson-Miller & Sy Miller).
GREGORY D. McDANIEL
In the holiday spirit of festivity and togetherness, McDaniel’s mother will fly in from Texas to watch her son conduct. “She’s so excited to see me do my thing here,” he says. It will be her first time visiting the Garden State.
The gospel-inspired holiday concert, now in its third consecutive year, is part of the Symphony’s family-oriented holiday programming, which also includes an annual production of Handel’s Messiah, the Baroque choral masterwork famous for its riveting Christmas narrative.
Handel’s Messiah was first performed by the symphony during the 1976-77 season and has turned into an annual offering in recent years. McDaniel is excited to become part of this year’s edition, Dec. 20-21 at Princeton University’s Richardson Auditorium, and Dec. 22 at Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart in Newark. He will assist as cover conductor for guest conductor Jeannette Sorrell, who will lead the symphony musicians, guest solo vocalists and the Montclair State University Singers.
“Some folks can get a little tired of Handel’s Messiah, but not me!” he says. “I find something new every time I listen to it. I’ve sung in it many times, and now having the opportunity to assist, especially with an amazing conductor like Jeannette Sorrell, is very special. I’m looking forward to hearing how she interprets the piece, her thoughts on it and soaking up what she has to offer.”
The early music oratorio was one of the first pieces of classical music McDaniel listened to as a kid. After hearing its majestic “Hallelujah” chorus, he headed to the library, found the music and the CD, and fell in love with the music.
He always dreamed of conducting classical music, and the Colton Conducting Fellowship brings him one step closer to a successful future in the orchestral field. The program, created in 2023 by philanthropists Judith and Stewart Colton, supports early-career conductors from populations that have been historically underrepresented on the podium. It represents an expansion of the symphony’s Colton Fellowship for orchestral musicians, which was founded in 2019 and supports early-career orchestral musicians from Black and Latino communities.
After a national search and audition, McDaniel was announced as the awardee in mid-August, and has already found the role rewarding. “I’ve never worked with this level of an orchestra before in this capacity, so it’s an honor to be part of an organization of this caliber,” he says. “Everyone’s been super nice and supportive, including Maestra (Xian) Zhang, whom I very much admire. I’m still getting my footing right now, because we’re about two or three concerts into the season. I’m looking forward to doing more of what we do as assistant conductors: more concerts, more assisting, more covering.”
GRACE LIU ANDERSON
JESSICA RIVERO ALTARRIBA
He follows in the footsteps of the symphony’s first Colton Conducting Fellow, Jessica Rivero Altarriba, who departed New Jersey in September to become assistant conductor of The Utah Symphony.
In anticipation of Altarriba final concert with the symphony, I asked her if she had any advice to share with the incoming fellow (which hadn’t been announced yet), and she said: “Every single day you are going to be doing different things depending on which moment of the season you are in, so use every single day to learn as much as you can, be open to everything and don’t take any opportunity for granted.”
McDaniel says the two of them have been in touch and she shared similar sentiments. “It’s taken a lot of hard work and study to get here and, like Jessica said, you can’t take anything for granted. That’s the part I’ve been taking to heart: being your utmost prepared and making sure that you bring something to the setting. These musicians are phenomenal and collectively they have a lot of experience, so you have to make sure you’re bringing out their best.”
During the yearlong fellowship, McDaniel will work closely with New Jersey Symphony music director Zhang and the orchestra’s artistic advisory committee and artistic staff. He will also appear as cover conductor for Zhang and guest conductors; prepare scores for each program; serve as score reader for supertitles; give pre-concert talks; and take notes on sound balance for rehearsals and performances.
On the educational side, he will assist in community engagement programs at schools around the state, and conduct family and educational concerts. He says he feels “right at home” with the educational initiatives. He has a degree in music education from The University of Houston, and has been a choral educator for many years.
In the year ahead, he is looking forward to covering a handful of programs, including the “Rachmaninoff Symphony No. 2” concerts, March 13-16 in Newark, Princeton and Morristown. He will conduct the New Jersey premiere of Nico Muhly’s Sounding, a concerto for piano and orchestra, and a New Jersey Symphony co-commission featuring guest pianist Adam Tendler. (The concert will open with Claude Debussy’s Clair de Lune and close with its headliner piece, conducted by Zhang.) “It’s a lot of pressure but I’m so excited,” McDaniel says.
He is also looking forward to conducting the final movement from Camille Saint-Saëns’ Cello Concerto No. 1 at the “Discover Mozart & Bach” concert, May 17 at NJPAC in Newark. “I’ll be conducting one of the movements with our cello composition winner, Annamaria Witek, and I’m really excited for that,” he says. The concert is part of the symphony’s family concert programming and will feature insider tips, listening cues and fun facts about the music.
In April he will cover the “Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with Xian Zhang” concerts, April 3-6 in Newark and New Brunswick. The four-movement choral symphony is Beethoven’s final and only vocal symphony, and is famous for its choral finale, adapted from the 18th-century “An die Freude (Ode to Joy)” poem by Friedrich Schiller.
JIYANG CHEN
REGINALD SMITH JR.
In a stroke of luck, his partner, opera singer Reginald Smith Jr., will be the guest vocalist in the baritone solo role. Smith has already sung Beethoven’s choral warhorse with Zhang, as well as other works with the New Jersey Symphony. “It’s very rare that we get to work together,” McDaniel says, “and it’s cool to be in that world where we’re both at a certain level. You work hard to get your skills going at a high level that can be utilized and put to great use, so it’s very gratifying to see that with hard work, this can be a reality.”
The Colton Conducting Fellowship will put McDaniel’s versatility to good use. He learned the symphonic masterworks while pursuing a degree in orchestral conducting from the University of North Texas, but has a proclivity for opera and choral music, which he credits to growing up as a singer.
He started studying classical music in the sixth grade when his music choir teacher put him in the soprano section of the choir “and the rest is history,” he says. “That became the key to discovery and I went down this rabbit hole of listening to classical music. Anything operatic or choral, and the big symphonic choral works like Beethoven’s Ninth.”
He used to think that his background in singing would be disadvantageous to conducting — conductors have traditionally had experience in orchestral instruments — but discovered the opposite.
“I found other conductors who played this instrument or that instrument, or they’re a pianist, so I always thought I could never break into that world,” he says. “Then I had a mentor-teacher at the time who was very much like, ‘No, your singing is not a hindrance but an advantage, because every instrument is told to sing through their musical voice, through the melodic lines and the phrasing.’ And because of that, I bring a lot of that element of phrasing and style to the playing. I’m very happy that I kept up my confidence and still applied for opportunities like the Colton Conducting Fellowship and didn’t feel like I couldn’t bring something to the table.”
There is no shortage of work on his resume. Both opera houses and symphonic halls have come calling.
At the time of our interview, he was at home in Houston preparing for the premiere of Laura Kaminsky’s new opera, “As One,” for HOPERA. He was poring over the score, making sure that every musical detail was marked. The intimate chamber opera is scored for two singers and a string quartet, which sounds simple in scale but on paper is something else.
“New opera is tough!” he laughs. “There’s no time to rest in this score. For instance, something like La bohème is a very hard score but there are moments where you can take a moment of rest. But in this one, I cannot. I’m spending every moment focused on the score and the cues, and it’s a beautiful challenge.”
The libretto tells the journey of a transgendered person. In a movement titled “Perfect Boy,” the main character feels overwhelmed by trying to be a perfect student and athlete, and struggles in trying to hide his big secret.
“It’s an honor to do the piece, considering where we are politically and where we seem to be going in our world,” he says. “We have to protect our LGBTQIA+ community. A lot of things are under attack: This piece comes at a pivotal time. So I’m very happy that we get to share it with our Houston audiences, and honored that I get to be part of that history.”
The gospel holiday concert is just one highlight of his seasonal celebrations. McDaniel will spend Christmas Day gathering with loved ones at home, while Christmas Eve will be spent working. “The Christmas tradition has usually been that I’m here in Houston because I work for a church and we have Christmas Eve services,” he says. New Year’s Eve will be spent in the New York area with Smith, who has work commitments in the city.
“We love Christmas around here!” he says. Then he panned around his home to show an open-space layout that was festively decorated, including a Christmas tree with lights and bright ornaments. “With everything going on in the world, we need a little Christmas cheer around here!”
Along with his super-sized charm, it seems everything really is bigger in Texas.
For more about the concert, visit njsymphony.org.
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