John McKeever

John McKeever recently completed a Doctor of Musical Arts in Orchestral Conducting at the University of Colorado Boulder. As a graduate teaching assistant, he served as the Director of the Campus Orchestra. He also served as an Assistant and Cover Conductor for the Boulder Philharmonic. Dr. McKeever is currently working as an Assistant Conductor with the UNC School of the Arts Symphony Orchestra. Additionally, McKeever is a Performing Artist for the School of Dance at UNCSA. From 2012-2018, Dr. McKeever was the Assistant Conductor for Piedmont Opera in Winston-Salem, NC. In 2018 he made his conducting debut with the company in their production of The Pirates of Penzance. Dr. McKeever returned to Piedmont Opera as an Assistant Conductor in the fall of 2021 and is excited to be conducting the 2023 production of Donizetti's Don Pasquale. This season he made his debut with the Winston-Salem Symphony as the conductor for their Mary Starling concerts. In 2016, Dr. McKeever shadowed the American Ballet Theatre's spring season at the Metropolitan Opera at the invitation of the company's principal conductor, Charles Barker. He earned a Bachelor of Music in Double Bass Performance and a Master of Music in Instrumental Conducting at the UNC School of the Arts. John was born and raised in Anchorage, Alaska. Outside of the concert hall, he can be found making batons, rooting for the Seattle Mariners, and co­ hosting podcasts about musical theatre and heavy metal.