Ryan Keeling, Associate Conductor

Dr. Ryan Keeling is active as a teacher, singer, and conductor in the Pittsburgh area.  Ryan is the Director of Choral Activities at Westminster College where he conducts the Concert Choir, Chamber Singers, and Treble Chorus, and also teaches classes in Diction and Choral Conducting. Holding positions in the artistic leadership of three of Pittsburgh’s premiere choral ensembles, he serves as the Artistic Director of Voces Solis, Conductor of the professional women’s choir Virago, and the Associate Conductor of the Mendelssohn Choir of Pittsburgh, the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra’s “chorus of choice.” Under Ryan’s leadership, Voces Solis has been selected by blind jury to perform at regional and state ACDA conferences. Recent performances include the east coast premiere of ODC|Dance’s production of Path of Miracles by Joby Talbot, choreographed by KT Nelson, with the Mendelssohn Choir of Pittsburgh’s Professional Core, the Andrea Bocelli International Tour with the Mendelssohn Choir of Pittsburgh, Stephen Sondheim’s Sweeney Todd with Hilltop Opera, Ola Gjeilo’s Sunrise Mass with Voces Solis, and John Corigliano’s Fern Hill with Voces Solis and the Wheeling Symphony Orchestra. He has prepared choirs for the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, the Wheeling Symphony Orchestra, the West Virginia Symphony Orchestra, and artists Andrea Bocelli, Mandy Gonzalez, and The Chieftains. Ryan also serves as Artist in Residence at Christ United Methodist Church in Bethel Park, and is in demand as conductor of honor choruses, having conducted middle and high school honor choruses in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Ohio.

Ryan was previously Director of Choral Activities at West Liberty University, the Assistant Director of Music and Worship Life and Director of Choirs at Christ United Methodist Church in Bethel Park where he conducted six choirs, Director of Choral Music at Mt. Lebanon United Methodist Church, a Professional Core tenor in the Mendelssohn Choir of Pittsburgh, and the Director of the Pappert Men’s Chorale at Duquesne University. As Music Director and Principal Conductor of OvreArts, Ryan conducted the OvreArts Sinfonia and was the founding conductor of the OvreArts Chamber Singers.

Ryan has been heard as tenor soloist in performances with the Mendelssohn Choir of Pittsburgh, the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, the Pittsburgh Concert Chorale, and at the National Pastoral Musicians National Conference.  In 2012 he made his New York City debut performing Bach’s cantata BWV 4 Christ Lag in Todesbanden and Beethoven’s Choral Fantasy in the Cathedral of St. John the Divine.  

Ryan holds the D.M.A. degree in Conducting from West Virginia University where he studied with Dr. Kym Scott and Dr. Jeffery Redding, the M.M. degree in Choral Conducting from East Carolina University, where he studied with Dr. Daniel Bara, and the B.A. degree in Music Education from West Liberty State College, where he studied conducting with Dr. Alfred de Jaager and voice with Dr. Linda Cowan.  He has worked with such preeminent conductors as Dale Warland, Simon Carrington, Manfred Honeck, and Osmo Vänskä.