BY ROD JONES
OCU MARKETING & COMMUNICATIONS
For 27 years, Jan McDaniel stood at the heart of Oklahoma City University’s artistic and academic life as a beloved faculty member, creative collaborator and mentor whose impact on his students, colleagues and the overall performing arts landscape remains immeasurable.
When he passed away in August following a hard-fought battle with pancreatic cancer, the loss of the conductor, pianist and music educator made an impact across and beyond the OCU campus.
“He was a wonder,” said David Herendeen, who along with being director of OCU opera and musical theater since 1997 had worked hand-in-hand with McDaniel on numerous productions throughout the years.
“The man was good at simply everything, a pillar of our opera and music theater program. We wouldn’t be what we are today without Jan McDaniel. He shared so much valuable information, and joyfully told the most wonderful stories. The soul of what he built will remain with us, and be part of his continuing legacy.”
The OCU community gathered during its Sept. 17 University Worship service to honor and pay tribute to McDaniel, who may have been best known on campus for manning the conductor’s post in the Kirkpatrick Auditorium orchestra pit.
Several former colleagues and alumni arrived on campus to participate. The Rev. Rodney Newman, who served as university chaplain and director of Religious Life at OCU from 2007 to 2016, returned to deliver a message.
“We are blessed to belong to a community that for over 100 years stands committed to the idea that both our music and the expression of our faith deserve the best that we can offer,” Newman said during the service. “Among all the practitioners of this idea, no one embodied it more than the person whose memory we hold close this day. For the first time in 27 years, we begin a fall semester without the physical presence of Professor Jan McDaniel. It still doesn't seem right that someone so engaged, so full of life and love, would not be among us.”
During the service, an alumni string ensemble and the McDaniel Memorial Choir — consisting of 60 alumni, students, faculty, staff and friends — performed under the direction of Professor Emeritus Randi Von Ellefson.
Many OCU Music faculty have expressed their admiration both for McDaniel’s career, and for McDaniel as a person.
Melissa Plamann, the university organist and artist-in-residence at Westminster Presbyterian Church – where McDaniel served as co-director of Worship and The Arts, described him as “generous, selfless, humble, brilliant and kind beyond measure.”
“A brilliant and inspired force within the musical world and a steadfast member of many communities in Oklahoma City and beyond,” Plamann said.
McDaniel joined the OCU faculty in 1999 after a decade leading accompanying and orchestral activities at Stephen F. Austin State University. He came to campus as an accomplished international artist. His early career included work as a Rotary International Graduate Scholar at the Nordwest Deutsche Musikakademie and as assistant conductor and vocal coach with the Detmold State Theater in Germany.
Beyond the podium and the keyboard, McDaniel was a visionary educator. At OCU, he served as professor of Vocal Coaching, a program he founded and directed. He was also an award-winning conductor of the Oklahoma Opera and Music Theater Company, leading three dozen mainstage productions that encompassed both regional and world premieres. Alongside his OCU creative teams, his artistic vision was recognized with seven national Production Awards from the National Opera Association.
His influence as a collaborative pianist left a lasting impression on Taylor Hutchinson, vocal coaching instructor and collaborative piano coordinator at OCU.
“At many schools, collaborative pianists are looked down upon, seen as providing a service rather than as artistic partners,” Hutchinson said. “When I arrived at OCU, I was immediately struck by how pianists in vocal coaching roles were regarded with respect and admiration from both students and faculty. I know this was due largely to Jan’s long tenure in the music school, and the breadth and depth of wisdom he possessed and shared with generations of students.”
Hutchinson was equally impressed by McDaniel’s work as a conductor.
“Jan was focused on the singer on stage first,” Hutchinson said. “In rehearsals for Painted Sky Opera, he would say, ‘It’s my job to play the orchestra like a piano.’ He didn’t view the conductor’s baton as a means of control, but of collaboration.”
McDaniel’s spirit of collaboration and overall expertise was sought across the country and around the globe. He served as music director of OCU’s New York Showcase, taught six summers at the Taos Opera Institute, spent several seasons as musical director of the Key West Symphony Orchestra’s Young Artist Opera Program, and conducted and coached in Germany, Japan and across the United States.
In May, his commitment to pedagogy culminated in his selection as Master Teacher of Vocal Coaching at the 2026 National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS) Intern Program in Greenville, South Carolina, where he led intensives for early-career voice teachers and collaborative pianists. Midwestern State University recognized him as an Outstanding Alumnus in 2017.
McDaniel was equally vital to the broader Oklahoma arts community. As the founding music director of Painted Sky Opera, Oklahoma City’s professional opera company, he championed contemporary works alongside classic opera and operetta. He was a frequent guest conductor with the Oklahoma City Philharmonic and Lyric Theatre of Oklahoma, where his work on the podium for its production of “Oklahoma!” earned him Best Music Direction & Orchestra Performance from BroadwayWorld Oklahoma.
McDaniel remained, above all, a deeply devoted teacher and friend. He shared the stage and recording studio with renowned artists, including alumni Kelli O'Hara, Kristin Chenoweth, Marquita Lister and Leona Mitchell, along with many more vocal luminaries. Yet his greatest legacy lives on in the hundreds of students he guided from the rehearsal halls of the Wanda L. Bass School of Music to Broadway, major opera houses, and academic institutions worldwide.
OCU Music and Theatre Dean Julia Montag said McDaniel’s legacy will carry on through those students.
"Professor McDaniel was a trusted friend and collaborator for many, including generations of students whose professional successes pointed inevitably to his influence on their lives,” she said.
Video footage of the University Worship service is available to view on the Religious Life Facebook page here.
A photo album from the service is available online here.
