About Our Founder

The wonderful Marilyn McLean is the founding director of Bach With A Beat, since mid 2011 shortly after she moved to The Villages from theFort Lauderdale area.

Marilyn has achieved many musical milestones in her career. She builds on those accomplishments to bring an exciting and creative musical experience to The Villages in the form of Bach With A Beat.

She graduated from The High School of Music and Art in New York City and went on to graduate cum laude from Hunter College, in New York City. Her Master’s Degree in Music Education is from New York University. Additionally, she has taken courses in "Oriental Music" at University of Hawaii, "Electronic Music" at Florida’s Broward Community College, and "Voice and Choral Conducting" at Westminster Choir College in Princeton, New Jersey.

In addition to her musical training, Marilyn worked in creative marketing and public relations for various cultural events in industry, civic, and educational organizations. She has also taught in elementary and high schools, lectured at universities, supervised teachers and music programs, given demonstrations of music programs for gifted children, taught piano and choral workshops, and been a choir director and church organist.

Marilyn has also done extensive travel and study in Central and South America. She was University Lecturer for graduate students at San Marcos University in Lima, Peru. While in Peru, Marilyn was Director of the Lima Woman’s Chorale, an international chorus, with numerous public concerts including full TV programs. She was Director of Musical Productions for a local theater group in Lima, including "Oklahoma", "Brigadoon", and "Amahl and the Night Visitors". The foregoing included conducting principal members of the National Symphony Orchestra

Marilyn founded and was Director of The Jaboolian Singers, a semi professional group, performing Renaissance music, Bach-Swingle, and Poulenc’s Mass in G, and winning numerous awards at choral festivals.

She founded and was Director of the Latin American Ensemble and Director of the Lyric Theater under the auspices of the Adult Education Program of Broward County, Florida.

Additionally, Marilyn founded and was Director of the Broward Women’s Chorus which continued singing for 30 years with 25-30 performances a season. When she traveled to Medellin, Colombia ( a sister city to Ft. Lauderdale), she received the "Key to the City".

Bach with a Beat is a result of Marilyn's desire to continue her involvement with music while living here in the Villages.