Guitarist and composer Kevin McCormick has studied and performed in Europe, Asia, and the United States. He holds a Diploma in Guitar Performance from the Indiana University School of Music where he studied classical guitar under the tutelage of Ernesto Bitetti, composition with Don Freund, and jazz with David Baker. He earned a degree in English from the University of Notre Dame with a concentration in poetry. Additional guitar studies were with Sergio Notaro at Centro Romano della Chitarra in Rome, Italy. His compositions range from solo and chamber guitar pieces to experimental rock and jazz works to a complete mass. From 1991 to 1995 he lived in Nagoya, Japan composing, performing, and studying the Japanese koto.
Since 1994, he has taught guitar privately and at schools and universities. In 1999, he opened Mirabilis Studio for Guitar in Kerrville, Texas, where he resides. He is an Instructor of Guitar at Schreiner University and music director at Notre Dame Catholic Church in Kerrville. In 2010, the Symphony of the Hills commissioned him to write “Soleares,” a piece for guitar and orchestra, which he premiered with the orchestra. His Magnificat (for guitar and SATB Choir) was commissioned for the 30th anniversary season of the Children’s Chorus of San Antonio.
He has performed throughout the United States as a solo artist, as an accompanist, and with his own group, the Kevin McCormick Ensemble. He has been a guest lecturer at the University of Texas at Austin and has performed with the Children’s Chorus of San Antonio, the Symphony of the Hills, Canto, the Master Singers and other fine soloists & ensembles. His awards include recognition from the Guitar Foundation of America and the Academy of American Poets.
Compositions include the award-winning “Desert Passage” for solo guitar and “Annunciation” for young voices and guitar commissioned for the 25th Anniversary of the Children’s Chorus of San Antonio.