Earl MacDonald (born July 26, 1970)[1] is a Canadian pianist, composer, arranger, conductor, recording artist, and educator specializing in jazz.

[7] He attended Silver Heights Collegiate Institute, where his high school stage band was nationally recognized, winning "Most Outstanding" and Gold awards at the 1988 MusicFest Canada competition.

[8][9] Also during high school, MacDonald began taking classical piano lessons with Darrel Loewen and Shirley Kwok at the Manitoba Conservatory for Music and Arts.

[21] At the post-secondary level MacDonald has taught at: At UConn he teaches courses on improvisation and arranging, while also directing student ensembles and administering the jazz program.

In recent years he has taught at the Kincardine Summer Music Festival,[23] Jazz In July at UMASS Amherst[24] and Marshall University's "Jazz-MU-Tazz" camp in West Virginia.

[38] Reviewer, Dan Bilawsky asserted, "Re:Visions goes beyond where most big bands go and the music here establishes Earl MacDonald as a major force in the world of jazz composition.

The CD, "Mirror of the Mind" received a JUNO award nomination for contemporary jazz album of the year[41] and a garnered many favorable reviews.

The group's instrumentation consists of 2 trumpets, 1 trombone, 1 French horn, 3 saxophones (1 alto, 1 tenor, 1 bari), piano, bass and drums.

[53] Owen McNally of the Hartford Courant described the band and outlined its mission, stating "the fresh-sounding New Directions Ensemble taps into the rich lode of area talent, provides a vital forum for original compositions, spreads the good word about contemporary band music in its educational role, and provides a prominent public face for its sponsor, the Hartford Jazz Society.