Miami Collegium Musicum

In memoriam Donald Oglesby

Dr. Donald Oglesby, Founder and Artistic Director Emeritus of Miami Collegium Musicum,
passed away on April 19, 2025 at the age of 77. The heart and soul of MCM for 48 years, Don
will be missed immeasurably.
Born and raised in Birmingham, Alabama, Don earned his Bachelor of Music degree from
Birmingham-Southern College, his Master of Musicology degree from the University of Illinois,
and his Doctor of Music degree with distinction from Indiana University, where he concentrated
in conducting. His teachers included Robert Shaw, Julius Herford, Helmuth Rilling, and Hugh
Thomas. Don came to Miami in 1977 to join the choral faculty at the University of Miami’s
Frost School of Music, where he was a beloved choir conductor and educator. While at the Frost
School, Don was also director of choral music at Plymouth Congregational Church in Coconut
Grove, and he taught for many years at a choral summer camp run by the Frost School. Don
served his profession in many other ways, including as president of the Florida chapter of the
American Choral Directors Association and as an Editorial Board member for the Choral
Journal. Don is the author of the Bach Cantata Data Base, Score Preparation: A Study Guide
for Conducting Students, A Guide to the Bach Cantatas, and articles in the Choral Journal. He
translated editorial notes for an edition of grand motets by Rameau, published by the Centre de
Musique Baroque de Versailles in 2006.
In his first year at UM, Don founded Collegium, the choir he would nurture and treasure for
nearly half a century. Collegium began as a student choir that also welcomed community
members and specialized in early music, particularly music of the Baroque era. Don led
Collegium in acclaimed performances of many Baroque masterpieces, including Bach’s B Minor
Mass and all his passion settings, Handel’s oratorios, and the music of Schütz, Charpentier,
Purcell, and Vivaldi. Under Don’s direction, the choir sang in Miami and toured nationally and internationally, building a reputation for sensitive interpretation of Baroque music. In 1984,
Collegium became the choir of the Miami Bach Society, in which capacity, under Don’s superb
direction, it brought the Baroque to Miami in many concerts and music festivals, as well as
touring internationally.
After Don retired from UM in 2016, he volunteered his time directing his beloved Collegium,
reorganized as a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit and renamed Miami Collegium Musicum. MCM was
now primarily a community choir but maintained close ties to UM and had occasional student
membership. Highlights of this period include a Lincoln Tribute featuring music of the Civil
War, performed in Miami and Washington DC, Brahms’ Requiem, Charpentier’s Judgment of
Solomon, and Bach’s B Minor Mass. In 2023, Don laid down the baton as Dr. Matthew Brady
took over as artistic director of MCM. Don, ever faithful to the choir he had created over 45
years earlier, joined the bass section, where he sang and continued to help MCM thrive all the
way through performances of CPE Bach’s Magnificat held just a month and a half before Don’s
passing.
Miami Collegium Musicum mourns the passing of its beloved, caring, patient, musically gifted
leader. We are deeply grateful for the years through which Don shared his musical talents with
us. Don believed that music nurtures the soul and brings beauty and meaning to all our lives.
We will strive to carry on Don’s legacy as a community choir that enriches its members and the
community alike through beautiful music well performed.
Don is survived by his sons David, Stephen, and Thomas, and his grandchildren Conner, Aidan,
James and Grant. A memorial service will be held at 12 noon on Wednesday, April 30,
at Plymouth Congregational Church, 3400 Devon Road, Miami. The service will also be live-
streamed on the church’s YouTube channel.