Kirk MacDonald

With an established reputation as one of Canada’s leading saxophonists, Kirk MacDonald cut his first record at the age of thirteen. Throughout his career, he has received numerous awards, and has workedwith many leading musicians in a variety of musical genres. He has performed on over fifty CDs as bothleader and sideman, and has participated in numerous national broadcast recordings for CBC Radio.

In addition to performing extensively throughout Canada, he has also performed in the USA, United Kingdom, Germany, Spain, France, Italy, Holland, Monaco, Australia, Korea, Egypt, India, Bermuda, and the Bahamas. For over thirty years Kirk MacDonald has worked and recorded with many leading Canadian, U.S. and International jazz musicians including Claude Ranger, Dave Young, Sam Noto, Sonny Greenwich, Kenny Wheeler, Eddie Henderson, Harold Mabern, Walter Bishop Jr., Tom Harrell, Kenny Barron,Vic Juris, Peter Bernstein, Adam Nussbaum, Rich Perry, Kurt Elling, David Virelles, Ralph Bowen, Dick Oatts, Ben Monder, Seamus Blake, Jonathan Blake, Lorne Lofsky, Bob Mover, Pat LaBarbera, John Taylor, RonMcClure, Jack DeJohnette, Mike Stern, Lewis Nash, Jim McNeely, Bob Mintzer, Vince Mendoza, John Clayton, Chris Potter, Glenn Ferris, Maria Schneider, Dave Grusin, Danilo Perez, Adam Rogers, Dennis Mackrel, Nancy Walker, Barry Romberg, Andre White, Rob Smith, Brian Dickinson, Denny Christianson, Bernie Senensky, Phil Nimmons, James Moody, and Rosemary Clooney.

Over 100 performances of Kirk MacDonald’s compositions appear on over 25 albums, both as leader and on recordings by other artists. Kirk has established a substantial body of original work as a saxophonist/composer over the past three decades. As a follow up to his award-winningrecordings Symmetry with Tom Harrell, and Vista Obscura with Harold Mabern, MacDonald released Common Ground, a double CD of his compositions arranged by Joe Sullivan for Jazz Orchestra. Silent Voices, a co-led quartet outing with renowned saxophonist Pat LaBarbera, featuring American jazz great Adam Nussbaum on drums. Generations brings him back full circle to his roots in a program of jazz standards and the Great American Songbook. Generations features three generations of musicians: the legendary pianist Harold Mabern at age 82 and MacDonald’s wonderfully talented daughter Virginia MacDonald, at age 23, on clarinet. MacDonald’s latest outing, JUNO Award nominated Trane of Thought, is a two-saxophone co-led quintet with the great Pat LaBarbera featuring the music of the iconic John Coltrane.

Kirk MacDonald has been active as an educator forover30 years at leading jazz studies programs such as The University of Toronto, Humber College and McGill University. Through his work with these programs, numerous live performances, recordings, master classes and workshops throughout Canada and internationally, Kirk has become one of Canada’s most respected and in demand educators.

For close to three decades MacDonald has been a leader in his field of performance, composition and education and has had a huge and lasting influence on many of Canada’s younger generation of musicians. Many former students have gone on to forge national and international careers in many genres of music.