Timothy L. McDonald, Ph.D., has served as a choral and orchestral conductor, educator and author. He directs Rockhurst University's student choruses and is founding artistic director and conductor of Kansas City's Musica Sacra chorus and orchestra.

A Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Rutgers University in New Jersey, McDonald holds a doctorate and master's degree in music and a bachelor's degree in economics. Rockhurst University has granted him awards for distinguished service and for scholarship. The Kansas City Musical Club selected him for its 2006 award for outstanding contributions to the cultural life of Kansas City. Sigma Alpha Iota, the international music fraternity, named him a national Friend of the Arts in 2010. He is the author of a book published by the American Institute of Musicology and articles in Choral Journal and elsewhere.

McDonald is well-known in the Kansas City region for his media work. Between 2007 and 2014, he wrote regularly for the Kansas City Star. From 2002 to 2009, he served as co-host of the weekly Arts Preview Program, and from 2008 to 2009 as daily midday host on Classical KXTR. He conducted hundreds of print and radio interviews with artists such as Yo-Yo Ma, Emmanuel Ax, Kristin Chenoweth and Joyce DiDonato.