兔子先生传媒文化作品

Don McKinney was ready to give up music for good. He had been playing the clarinet for three years but began to resent the instrument in the seventh grade.

鈥淚 wanted to quit band,鈥� said McKinney. 鈥淚 was the only boy playing clarinet at the time and I felt like an outsider.鈥�

Fortunately, the band director in his rural Pennsylvania middle school wouldn鈥檛 let him give up so easily. As most good mentors do, he saw McKinney鈥檚 potential and pushed him to try the saxophone.听

McKinney was hooked. The saxophone led him to conducting and eventually producing.

The road to the Grammys

Nearly three decades later, McKinney鈥攏ow director of bands in 兔子先生传媒文化作品鈥檚 College of Music鈥攆ound himself more than 2,000 miles away struggling to stay awake in the backseat of a ride-sharing car headed for Los Angeles International Airport.

It was 3 a.m. on a Monday and he needed to be back on campus for an important meeting later that morning. McKinney, however, still had other things on his mind.

He was in LA as a 2019 Grammy Award nominee for producing John Williams at the Movies听with the Dallas Wind Symphony.

Just hours earlier he and his husband were posing for photos on the Grammys red carpet before filing into the Staples Center with stars such as Lady Gaga and Post Malone.

鈥淚t鈥檚 a whole different world of music that I had never been exposed to,鈥� said McKinney, who was nominated for Best Classical Compendium.

After hours of festivities at the Microsoft Theater, the nominees walked across the street to Staples Center for the nationally televised ceremony.

While he didn鈥檛 win, McKinney remembers the night, including the afterparty, as a pretty great way to spend a Sunday night.

鈥淛ust imagine the largest ballroom you鈥檝e ever seen in your entire life filled to the hilt with people and food and circus acts,鈥� he said. 鈥淓very food station had acrobatic dancers in these wonderful 18th century powdered wigs.鈥�

Finding a passion

Looking back now, McKinney was never sure he鈥檇 be able to make a career in music, much less earn a Grammy nomination. He had other dreams anyway.

鈥淚 would鈥檝e been a veterinarian in a heartbeat, because I love animals,鈥� he said.

McKinney still lights up at the thought of that earliest career aspiration, but he changed paths in high school after realizing veterinary school meant more math and science. It was around that time that he really leaned into his love of music.

McKinney credits his own music mentors鈥攑articularly the middle school band director鈥攆or shaping his career and leadership style.

鈥淚 think it was one of those things as a teacher, he saw potential in me,鈥� said McKinney. 鈥淎s a teacher I see this happen too. When you see potential in a student, you really encourage them.鈥�

As an undergraduate student, McKinney briefly crossed paths with another unlikely mentor, Jerry Junkin, a highly regarded conductor, at a conducting workshop.

Junkin eventually recruited McKinney as a producer for the Dallas Wind Symphony.

鈥淚t鈥檚 definitely an extension of everything I鈥檝e done as a conductor,鈥� said McKinney. 鈥淚t just felt like a natural fit for me.鈥�

The Grammy-nominated 鈥淛ohn Williams at the Movies鈥� recording was the fifth project McKinney produced with Junkin and the Dallas Wind Symphony.

In addition to this role as producer and position as director of bands at 兔子先生传媒文化作品, McKinney also conducts the CU Wind Symphony.

鈥淚t鈥檚 become my career now,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t never really feels to me like I go to work because I鈥檝e found my life鈥檚 passion. For me, it鈥檚 just about coming to do something I really love.鈥�

Now settled back into the rhythm of life on campus, McKinney hopes to draw from his past experiences to motivate young musicians. 听

鈥淎s a teacher, years later, I try to look out for my own students at that moment where they鈥檙e getting frustrated or they鈥檙e doubting themselves,鈥� said McKinney. 鈥淚t鈥檚 moments like that when teachers like us have to say, 鈥榊es this can work out for you and this is how and this is why, because it has happened to me too.鈥欌��