Michigan

Rich MacDonald hails from Port Huron, Michigan, where his early musical influences included rock, Motown and jazz - all emanating from nearby Detroit.  

After attending St. Clair County Community College (1974-75) MacDonald left Michigan to spend two years traveling the world with the amateur musical group Up With People, including performing a live halftime show at SuperBowl X in Miami, Florida.

Texas

In 1978, Rich enrolled at the University of North Texas, which began a 15-year connection to the Dallas/Ft. Worth area.  

Degrees in that time included:

Bachelor of Music in Jazz Studies (1983)

Master’s in Music Education (1991)

Also, during this period, MacDonald spent three years (1981-84) traveling the US and Canada as the touring drummer for Ice Capades.

While based in DFW, Rich performed in many groups including jazz combos and big bands, pop/rock groups, industrial shows, several theater productions, and a 5-year run (1985-90) for a church television show.

In 1984, Rich began teaching at the college level.

1984-1989: Eastfield College (Mesquite, TX) 

1984-1993: University of Texas at Arlington

1989-1993: University of North Texas 

Colorado 

In 1993, he moved to Colorado to begin work on the Doctor of Arts degree at the University of Northern Colorado (UNC) in Greeley, CO.

1993-1996:  Graduate assistantship teaching percussion, directing UNC Jazz Ensemble II, and studying multimedia design

Degree completed:

Doctor of Arts - Percussion Performance and Jazz Studies (2000) UNC

Minnesota

In 1996, MacDonald became Professor of Music at Winona State University

1996-2020: WSU Director of Jazz and Percussion Studies

2020-present:  WSU Professor Emeritus

Over the past 24+ years, Rich has been a fixture in the music community of Winona, MN and La Crosse, WI.  In addition to performing with local groups, he has performed in the Twin Cities area with Pete Whitman’s X-tet, Dave Hagedorn’s trio (TRIUS), Bill Simenson’s Big Band and the JazzMN Orchestra.  As a drum set specialist for the past 50 years, Rich has performed with numerous national artists.