WEST LIBERTY, W.Va., June 12, 2017 — Alumnus Ryan Keeling was selected as Director of Choral Activities in the Department of Music and Theater at West Liberty University recently.
Keeling will lead all choirs at WLU including, the College Community Chorus and the University Singers.
“We are thrilled to welcome Ryan back to the hilltop as a faculty member in the Music Program. Ryan has worked closely with most of the music faculty already so he will be able to hit the ground running. I look forward to working with him to advance the Music Program, the College of Arts and Communication, and the University” said Dr. Matthew Harder, dean of the College of Arts and Communication.
“I’m really excited to join the incredible faculty here at West Liberty University. It’s extra special to get to come back to a place where I began my higher education,” said Keeling, who is originally from Fairmont, W.Va.
Keeling is also the artistic director of Western Pennsylvania’s premier choral chamber music, Voces Solis, and assistant conductor of the Mendelssohn Choir of Pittsburgh, the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra’s “chorus of choice.” He recently served as assistant director of Music and Worship Life at Christ United Methodist Church in Bethel Park and as the conductor of the Pappert Men’s Chorale at Duquesne University.
Keeling was previously the director of choral music at Mt. Lebanon United Methodist Church, a professional core tenor in the Mendelssohn Choir of Pittsburgh, and an adjunct faculty member at West Liberty University where he taught private and class voice, the West Liberty University Women’s Vocal Ensemble, and Music Appreciation.
As a tenor soloist, Keeling has been heard in the Mendelssohn Choirs’ concert of Mozart’s Great Mass in C Minor and in the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra’s Music for the Spirit concert at Rodef Shalom Congregation.
He was a soloist at the 2012 National Pastoral Musicians National Conference where he sang for the Oregon Catholic Press showcase. Also in 2012 he made his New York City debut as tenor soloist performing Bach’s cantata BWV 4 Christ Lag in Todesbanden and Beethoven’s Choral Fantasy in the Cathedral of St. John the Divine.
Before moving to Pittsburgh, Ryan taught at Saint Andrew’s Episcopal School in Potomac, Md., where he served as middle and upper school choral music director, chapel music director and assistant middle and upper school baseball coach.
He holds a master’s of music degree in Choral Conducting from East Carolina University, where he studied with Dr. Daniel Bara, and a bachelor’s degree in Music Education from WLU, where he studied conducting with Dr. Alfred de Jaager and voice with Dr. Linda Cowan. He will soon complete a doctoral degree in conducting at West Virginia University where he has studied with Dr. Kym Scott, Dr. Jeffery Redding, Dr. Mitch Arnold, and Professor John Hendricks. He has worked with such preeminent conductors as Dale Warland, Simon Carrington, William Weinert, and Kenneth Fulton.
Keeling resides in Pittsburgh with his wife Jenna, a clinician and nurse at UPMC (also a WLU 2009 graduate) and their one-year old daughter Abby.
The Division of Music at West Liberty University offers undergraduate degrees in Music Education, Music Performance, and Music Technology. Among its many ensembles are the University Singers, Wind Ensemble, College Community Chorus, Percussion Ensemble, Jazz Ensemble, and Electronic Music Ensemble.
West Liberty University is a forward-looking, four-year public university steeped in a rich heritage as West Virginia’s oldest institution of higher education and offering nearly 70 undergraduate majors and 30 programs. Graduate programs include the Master of Arts in Education, the Master of Science in Physician Assistant Studies, the Master of Professional Studies, the Master of Science in Criminology, the online MBA degrees and more. For more information, please call 1.866.WESTLIB or visit westliberty.edu.