South Florida Classical Review

Educator and choral director Donald Thomas Oglesby passed away on April 19. He was 77 years old. 

Don Oglesby was a crusading advocate for Baroque repertoire at a time when it was difficult to draw audiences in Miami for that literature. The flowering of choral groups and repertoire in the area owes much to his pioneering work. 

A native of Birmingham, Alabama, Oglesby was a professor and faculty member in the choral department at the University of Miami’s School of Music (now the Frost School) for 38 years. He was choral director at several Miami churches, most notably for over a decade at Plymouth Congregational Church in Coconut Grove. 

Under his direction, the University of Miami Collegium Musicum, and the Plymouth Church choir toured Europe. Following his retirement from his teaching position at UM, Oglesby taught classes at Florida International University and continued the Collegium Musicum as an independent organization.

Oglesby received his Bachelor of Music from Birmingham Southern College, a Master’s degree from the University of Illinois with an emphasis on musicology and a Doctorate from Indiana University. He was president of the Florida chapter of the American Choral Directors’ Association and editor of its journal.

Oglesby’s most important contribution to South Florida’s musical life was as co-founder and artistic director of the Miami Bach Society. Prior to the creation of Seraphic Fire by Patrick Quigley, it was Oglesby who regularly conducted performances of Johann Sebastian Bach’s cantatas, passion settings and the Mass in B minor. 

He also led the Bach Society forces in such significant Baroque scores as Handel’s Messiah and Dixit Dominus and Marc-Antoine Charpentier’s Midnight Mass. Working with guest soloists and mostly amateur choruses, Oglesby achieved remarkably high-quality performances. Often his presentations of the Bach cantatas were the first time the works were heard in South Florida. He even experimented with period-instrument ensembles.

Oglesby wrote several books on the Bach cantatas, including a guide to the scores for conducting students. He took part in the annual choral workshops led by Robert Shaw at Carnegie Hall and the chorus at the Oregon Bach Festival under Helmuth Rilling. 

Oglesby is survived by three sons and four grandchildren.

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