​Dr. Horace R. Carney, Jr. was born in Nashville, Tennessee but grew up in Tuskegee, Alabama. He graduated from Tuskegee Institute High School fourth in his class. His post-secondary education includes a Bachelor of Arts in Music at Fisk University (magna cum laude), Master of Arts in Music Theory at the Eastman School of Music as a Woodrow Wilson Fellow, and the Doctor of Philosophy in Music Theory at the University of Iowa.  He has attended choral workshops at Potsdam Choral Institute, Sarasota, New York, University of South Florida, and Georgia State University.

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Dr. Carney’s career in music began in elementary and continued through high school as a member of the choir, pianist, and leader of a dance band. He studied at Tuskegee Institute with Lexine Weeks, Charlotte Giles, and Hildred Roach. He continued at Fisk University as a member of the renowned Fisk Jubilee Singers for four years. His professional career includes Talladega College where he served for fourteen years as Choral Director and Acting Chairman of the Music Department, Lincoln University, Lincoln, PA; Coordinator of Choral Activities and Chairman of the Humanities Division for three years; and Sixth Avenue Baptist Church, where he served as Minister of Music and Coordinator of Cultural Affairs. Since 1990, Dr. Carney has been the Chairman/Coordinator of the Music Program at Alabama A&M University, Huntsville, Alabama. He is currently the  Chair for the Department of Visual, Performing, & Communication Arts and the Interim Director of the Alabama A&M University Choir. In 2012 and 2014, Dr. Carney was selected as a regional and national conductor for the 105 Voices of History in Washington, D.C., Mellon Hall and the Kennedy Center. This afforded him the opportunity to network with HBCU choir directors all over the United States.

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Professional Memberships include: The American Choral Directors Association (ACDA), Music Educators National Conference (MENC), International Association for Jazz Educators (IAJE), Society for Music Theory (SMT) and the Technological Institute for Music Educators (TI:ME). He is the founder and director of the Birmingham Community Chorale which is renamed as the Horace R. Carney, Jr. Chorale by its members.He  is also the founder, manager, and player of the Omni-Music Enterprises, a musical entertainment group for special occasions. He is the Minister of Music at Bethel Baptist Church, Collegeville, Birmingham, AL