Michael P. Mackey

Dr. Michael P. Mackey joined the Duquesne University Spiritan Campus Ministry Staff in 2025 as the Director of Music and Liturgy, having worked as a music director, musician, and educator for over twenty years. A native of Pittsburgh and proud Duquesne University alumnus, he is equally active in liturgical music, musical theatre, and jazz.

Mackey served as the Director of Music Ministry at Corpus Christi Parish in Bridgeville from 2011-2024, leading a dedicated group of volunteer choir members, cantors, and musicians in vibrant liturgical music. As the Director of Vocal Music at Central Catholic High School, a Lasallian college preparatory school for young men, his choral ensembles earned regional recognition for performances at St. Paul’s Cathedral, Carnegie Music Hall (Oakland), Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Hall, and a featured performance at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in NYC. As producer/music director for their musical theatre program, he mounted large-scale productions with a staff of Pittsburgh-area theatre professionals and musicians, most notably Hello, Dolly! (2024) and Les Misérables (2023), and organized an annual Broadway musical revue, for which he also scored for the pit orchestra. Mackey held positions at the University of Pittsburgh, Point Park University, Robert Morris University, and Penn State Greater Allegheny. As the Director of Bands at South Fayette High School from 2003-2011, Mackey’s “Little Green Machine” Marching Band was revered throughout the region, earning countless “Best Band” awards for Pittsburgh St. Patrick’s Day and Labor Day Parades and performing for such events as the Super Bowl XLIII Victory Parade, the American-Ireland Fund Gala, and Steelers Half-time Shows.

As a scholar in Jazz Studies, Mackey’s dissertation on the late, Pittsburgh-born jazz pianist Ahmad Jamal – “From Pittsburgh to the Pershing: Orchestration, Interaction, and Influence in the Early Work of Ahmad Jamal” (2017) – has been cited in several publications. He led a panel in Memoriam of Jamal for the University of Pittsburgh International Jazz Seminar (2023) and presented excerpts of his dissertation research at the University of Surrey (2016) and the Jazz Education Network National Conference (2014). He presented research on various jazz topics at numerous academic conferences both stateside and throughout Europe, and his paper on “Improvisation, Interaction, and Intermusicality Bill Evans Trio” is published in the French jazz journal, Epistrophy (2017). In 2024, he took the stage as an actor/jazz trumpeter (Nick Radel) in the Pittsburgh premiere production of “Bandstand: The Musical” for Front Porch Theatricals, receiving rave reviews from Broadwayworld.com and Triblive.com. Mackey currently resides in Peters Township with his wife and fellow Duquesne alumnus, Natalie, and their three children.

Mackey holds a Ph.D. in Music (Jazz Studies Emphasis) from the University of Pittsburgh, a M.M. in Piano Performance from Duquesne University, and a B.S. in Music Education from Duquesne University.

• Ph.D., University of Pittsburgh
• M.M., Duquesne University
• B.S., Duquesne University