Rusty moved to Utah to be the
Bass Trombonist of the Utah
Symphony Orchestra, a
position he has held since
1989. Prior to this, he was
Bass Trombonist of the Saint
Louis Symphony Orchestra
during the 1988-89 season as
a sabbatical replacement,
participating in all activities
including recordings with the
Grammy Award winning
orchestra. Before that, he was
a member of the core
orchestra of the Chattanooga
Symphony and Opera
Association. He has served as
a substitute musician with the
Baltimore Symphony, the
National Symphony Orchestra
of Washington, D.C., and the
Kennedy Center Orchestra of
the Kennedy Center for the
Performing Arts in Washington,
D.C. He also spent four
seasons on the faculty of the
Eastern Music Festival in
Greensboro, North
Carolina.
Since 2003,
Russell McKinney has been the
Music Director at First
Presbyterian Church, Salt Lake
City. Under his leadership,
annual concerts and special
choral services have been
reintroduced and repertoire
has expanded to include classic
sacred works from several
centuries as well as new
sacred pieces of worth from a
variety of styles. The Chancel
Choir of FPC has almost tripled
in size, now numbering around
36 regular members and its
annual spring and Christmas
Concerts, which often have the
choir collaborating with
ensembles drawn from the
Utah Symphony Orchestra,
have become especially
popular. Rusty also serves as
Managing Director for First
Presbyterian Church's
Community Concert Series
which he founded in 2004. This
series showcases some of
Utah’s finest talent as well as
hosting nationally recognized
ensembles such as the
Concordia College Choir with
Rene Clausen, Music Director;
Tim Zimmerman and the King’s
Brass; and the Houston based
Celtic Band, Clandestine.
