About Chip

Welcome, I’m Chip McNeill, and for me, music is about connection, creativity, and shared experience.

Across my work as a saxophonist, composer, arranger, and educator, I’ve always been drawn to the moments where music becomes bigger than the notes on the page. Moments where a band locks in, a melody tells the truth, and an audience feels something real. Whether I’m performing in an intimate club, coaching a student ensemble, or shaping a large-scale production, the goal is the same: create music that resonates long after the last note fades.

I’ve been fortunate to build a career that bridges iconic bandleading, global performance, and artistic leadership. As a music director and featured saxophonist, I worked with jazz legends Woody Herman, Maynard Ferguson, and Arturo Sandoval, including recording with Arturo on the Grammy winning album Hot House. That experience shaped how I hear time, phrasing, energy, and ensemble sound, and it continues to influence everything I do today.

On stage, I’ve performed at major jazz festivals and venues around the world, including North Sea, Montreux, Monterey, Pori, Warsaw, and Capital Jazz Festival, along with clubs such as the Blue Note in New York, Tokyo, and Osaka, Blues Alley, the House of Blues, and Jazz Showcase Chicago. I’ve also had the opportunity to collaborate with artists including Doc Severinsen, Nat Adderley, David Liebman, Larry Willis, and Ira Sullivan, and I continue to tour with my own groups while maintaining an active international presence.

As a composer and arranger, I love building music that plays clean, feels great, and gives performers something meaningful to say. My writing spans jazz, orchestral, and vocal settings, and I earned a Grammy Award and additional Grammy nominations for arrangements on Hot House. I later recorded orchestral arrangements for Arturo Sandoval’s HBO film For Love or Country and performed them with major symphony orchestras across the United States. During my years as music director for Maynard Ferguson, I recorded original compositions and arrangements on multiple albums, and my work has been performed by leading jazz vocalists including Diane Schuur. My writing is published by Kendor Music and other publishers, and I continue to compose and arrange new works while teaching jazz arranging at the University of Illinois.

Education has always been central to my life in music. I’m a full professor and founder of the Jazz Performance Studies Area at the University of Illinois, where I served as chair from 2002 through 2025. Prior to Illinois, I held leadership roles as Director of Jazz Studies at Florida International University and Virginia Tech. Over the years, I’ve presented hundreds of clinics and masterclasses worldwide on jazz improvisation, history, composition, arranging, transcription, harmony, and repertoire. I’ve also been a featured performer and presenter at multiple International Association of Jazz Educators and Jazz Education Network conferences.

At every level, my work is built on craft, collaboration, and respect for the music. Whether you’re a presenter looking for a powerful live performance, an orchestra needing custom arrangements for a pops program, or an educator wanting your students to walk away inspired and sharper than they arrived, I bring the same energy and attention to detail.

Because great music should not just be heard. It should be felt, remembered, and celebrated.