Andrew Ryker
Andrew Ryker is the Director of Opera & Musical Theatre at Capital University in Columbus, Ohio and serves on the faculty at FIO Italia in Urbania, Italy. He was formerly the Artistic Director of Boston Opera Collaborative and served on the directing staff at Des Moines Metro Opera, Opera New Jersey and New England Conservatory, Ryker’s productions have been seen with the Yale Institute of Sacred Music, Intermezzo Chamber Opera, Ohio University, Boston Opera Collaborative, MetroWest Opera, Drake University and New England Conservatory. He was formerly a member of the Resident Artist Program at Opera North and a recipient of the Goldovsky Directing Fellowship with the Harrower Opera Workshop in Atlanta. Ryker has been published by the National Association of Teachers of Singing and has adjudicated for the National Opera Association and Classical Singer Magazine; his production of Benjamin Britten's Curlew River was named Boston's "Best Staged Opera of the Year" by the Boston Phoenix.
Ryker has been heard with the Boston Pops, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, La Musica Lirica, College Light Opera Company and the Des Moines Gay Men’s Chorus. He was baritone soloist for Durufle's Requiem and Bach's Johannes Passion at Trinity Church in Boston. Operatic roles include Papageno (The Magic Flute), Count Almaviva (Le Nozze di Figaro), Marco (Gianni Schicchi), Silvio (Pagliacci), Don Alfonso (Così fan tutte), John Brooke (Little Women), Strephon (Iolanthe), St. Brioche (The Merry Widow), Le Suritendent (Cendrillon) and Jenik in the US premiere of Dvorak's Kral a Uhlir. Andrew has sung in master classes with Pierre Vallet, Vinson Cole, Alan Held and Warren Jones and has been featured on the St. John's Concert Series as well as various gala performances throughout the Marché region of Italy.
Andrew is very active in musical theatre and has a diverse background as a performer, director and educator. Recent highlights include the title role in Andrew Lippa's I am Harvey Milk, Leo Frank in Jason Robert Brown's Parade and a solo cabaret at Noce Jazz Club. He’s performed regionally in Titanic, The Scarlet Pimpernel, 42nd Street, Kismet, South Pacific, Brigadoon and On the 20th Century with Alice Ripley. Andrew has staged productions of Cabaret, Into the Woods, West Side Story, Candide, and Songs for a New World. Music directing credits include Ragtime, The Wild Party, Jesus Christ Superstar, Spring Awakening, Fiorello, Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill, Rock of Ages and 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. Andrew’s 2015 production of South Pacific won Best Musical at the Cloris Leachman Excellence in Theatre Arts Awards.
Andrew began work with Des Moines Metro Opera in 2010 and has staged touring productions of The Elixir of Love, Cenerentola and The Barber of Seville as well as directing for their nationally recognized Apprentice Artist Program. Ryker previously taught at Ohio University, Drake University and New England Conservatory. He’s an active adjudicator and clinician and continues to serve as an advisor for the Entrepreneurial Musicianship Program at New England Conservatory. Andrew’s students have been accepted into many of the premiere graduate and young artist programs in the US including Sarasota Opera, Cincinnati, Ash Lawn and Santa Fe Opera. An active participant in the National Association of Teachers of Singing, Ryker has had over 50 winners in regional and state NATS competitions as well as multiple award winners in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions.
Ryker studied voice with Kathryn Hartgrove and William Cotten and is a graduate of Millikin University. He received his master's degree in Vocal Performance from New England Conservatory where he was a student of John Moriarty and graduated with Academic Honors.