Kevin Isaacs

Professor of Music
Coordinator of the Master of Science in Music Education degree program
Concert Choir, Chamber Singers, Applied Composition, Form & Analysis, Music Theory

Dr. Isaacs, who began his tenure at Western Connecticut State University in 1990, is Professor of Music teaching courses in theory, composition, and choral studies and coordinating the graduate program in music education. He is currently the University Ombudsman through 2006. For the 1995-96 school year, Dr. Isaacs was a Mellon Foundation Faculty Fellow at the School of Music and Institute of Sacred Music of Yale University.   

Under his leadership the WCSU Choral Program has grown and flourished. The Concert Choir has performed with local symphonies, headlined five times with the New Haven Symphony, twice with the Ridgefield Symphony, and combined with the Texas Christian University choirs for concerts at Carnegie Hall with Skitch Henderson and the New York Pops Orchestra. Additionally, they have been selected for performance at the Connecticut Music Educators Association All-State and In-Service Conference.

Prior to his work in the Northeast, Isaacs was Visiting Professor of Composition at the University of Arizona. He received his Bachelor's and Master's degrees in Theory and Composition from Texas Christian University and a Doctorate in Composition and Choral Conducting from The University of Arizona under the tutelage of the celebrated composer, Robert Muczynski, and choral mentor, Maurice Skones.

            Professor Isaacs' musical sphere includes writing commissioned compositions, adjudicating, and conducting All State, regional, and other honor choirs. Additional conducting opportunities have included The Charles Ives Symphony and Festival Chorus, The Camerata Chamber Orchestra, and four years as Music Director of the Christ Chorale, a Danbury area adult ecumenical choral ensemble. 

Kevin's compositions are commissioned and performed by amateur and professional performers and ensembles across the nation. His work, TRINITY SITE, for wind ensemble was nominated for the 2001 Pulitzer Prize for composition. CRI Records recently released on CD, 4 WHEEL DR., a multi-movement work for saxophones and piano. The Ojai Camerata, a professional ensemble in southern California, recently premiered a set of three commissioned choral works entitled, “life rounded with sleep.” His works have been published by Mark Foster Music and PerCel Music. 

Kevin lives in Brookfield, Connecticut with his wife, Debra, and their three sons, Kameron, Zachary, and Jackson.

isaacsk@wcsu.edu