Dr. Ronald C. McCurdy is Professor of Music at the Thornton School of Music at the University of Southern California and is Past President of the International Association for Jazz Education. Prior to his appointment at USC, he served as Director of the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz at USC. He has served as Professor of Music and Chair of the Afro-African American Studies Department and has served as Director of Jazz Studies at the University of Minnesota. In 1997, Dr. McCurdy served as Visiting Professor at Maria-Sklodowska-Curie University in Lublin, Poland. In 2001, he received the Distinguished Alumni Award from the University of Kansas
Dr. McCurdy served seven years as Director of Jazz Studies at the University of Kansas. Under his direction, the University of Kansas Jazz Program gained national and international prominence. His instrumental and vocal ensembles performed at international and national music conferences and festivals throughout the world.
Dr. McCurdy has released a CD titled Once Again for the First Time on the INNOVA label, and he is co-author of a vocal jazz improvisation series entitled Approaching the Standards, published by Warner Bros. He is touring the Langston Hughes Project, Ask Your Mama: 12 Mood for Jazz. The multimedia presentation features jazz quartet, spoken-word and images from the Harlem Renaissance.
Dr. McCurdy is in demand as a guest clinician, soloist, speaker and director of honor Jazz Ensembles and Choirs throughout the United States and Canada. He has directed All State Jazz Ensembles in New York, Texas, Arizona, Vermont, Nebraska, Ohio, Nevada, Illinois, Oklahoma and Florida, among others. Dr. McCurdy received his undergraduate degree from Florida A&M University as well as his Masters and Ph.D. from the University of Kansas.
As a consultant to the Grammy Foundation educational programs, he has served as director of the National Grammy Vocal Jazz Ensemble. He served as Director of the Walt Disney All-American Summer College Jazz Ensemble and Jazz Singers in Orlando, Florida for seven years and serves as a consultant for the college program. A few of the guest artists he has worked with include Joe Williams, Rosemary Clooney, Leslie Uggams, Arturo Sandoval, Diane Schuur, Ramsey Lewis, Mercer Ellington, Dr. Billy Taylor, Maynard Ferguson, Lionel Hampton and Dianne Reeves. He has served as a member of the Jamey Aebersold Jazz Camp faculty.
