Kevin Cornwell II is a second-year graduate student in Choral Conducting at the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music. Before arriving at UCLA, Kevin served with Julian Goods as Co-Interem Choral Director for the Detroit School of Arts in Detroit, Michigan. As a conductor, Kevin has served as the Assistant Conductor with his mentor, Dr. Michael A. Mitchell, to the Oakland University Chorus and Chorale, where he received his Bachelor of Music in Vocal Music Education. He also was a finalist for the state (Michigan) and the National American Choral Directors Association Conducting Undergraduate Masterclass in 2023. Later that year, Kevin served as Chorus Master in the UCLA Opera Department, working with Peter Kazaras and Rakefet Hak on Francis Poulenc’s Dialogues of the Carmelites. Kevin has worked with renowned composers Stacey V. Gibbs and Tom Cipullo and sung under the direction of Dr. Z. Randall Stroope, Dr. Allen Hightower, and Dr. Eugene Rogers.
Kevin enjoys a multifaceted music career as a Baritone, Film Score Composer, Arranger, and Musician outside of Choral Music. As a Baritone, Kevin has played the role of Polyphemus in G.F. Handel’s Acis and Galatea and Archibald Grosvenor in Gilbert and Sullivan’s Patience. Kevin also won the 2021 Jessye Norman Award in the National Association of Teachers of Singing Great Lakes competition. As a Film Score Composer, Kevin has composed music for the 2021 Short film Pharmocosm, which won best short- film at the Hollywood Blood Horror Festival and an honorable mention at the Lift-Off Global Network first-time filmmakers showcase. As a Musician, Kevin plays multiple instruments in multiple genres. He has played drums/percussion for R&B/Hip-Hop and pop artists such as Rockim Williamson and Racquel Soledad. He is the current keyboard player for Latin singer Tatiana D’Voce. Kevin has played at the Detroit African World Festival, Sunset Latin Festival, Royal Oak Arts, Beats, and Eats Festival.
Kevin attributes much of his musical inspiration to his father, Kevin Cornwell Sr., his High School Choir director, who helped shape him and instilled many of his core values at a young age.
