A native of Louisiana, Ryan Hebert is currently Assistant Professor of Music and Director of Choral Activities at Longwood University. Previously, he was the Director of Choral Activities at the South Carolina Governor’s School for the Arts and Humanities, the state’s only public boarding school for talented high school students. Choirs under his direction have performed across the region, as well as internationally. In October of 2006, the Cantus Chamber Choir, the select choir from the Governor’s School, was among three choirs invited to sing at the SC American Choral Directors Association’s Convention at Winthrop University in Rock Hill.
Prior to his appointment at the Governor’s School, Hebert was Professor of Music at Oklahoma City Community College where he conducted the school’s three choirs, lead regional tours, and started an annual medieval madrigal feast. He received his DMA in choral conducting from Louisiana State University and holds a dual master’s degree in Choral Conducting and Sacred Music from the University of Kansas. He graduated magna cum laude from the University of Alabama in 1997 with an undergraduate degree in organ performance and was the recipient of Pi Kappa Lamda’s Wilbur Roward Prize, given to the outstanding graduating senior in the school of Music.
In February of 2006, he was the recipient of the Colleen Kirk Award, annually awarded to a teacher in the Southern Division of ACDA. Hebert is the author of an article entitled, “Voices of Earth by Ruth Watson Henderson: Textual Considerations for Rehearsal and Analysis,” published in the December, 2007 edition of Choral Journal, the national monthly journal of the American Choral Directors Association. He also serves as the Virginia State ACDA Repertoire and Standards Committee Chair, and was a adjudicator for the 2007 National ACDA undergraduate conducting semi-finals in Miami. In October of 2008, he will conduct the All-County Honor Choir in Augusta County, VA. As a clinician and guest conductor, Hebert offers choirs and directors of varying abilities workshops for maintaining musical independence through rhythmic integrity, score interpretation, creative programing, and warm-ups that work to achieve a connection between the printed score and vocal technique.
An active recitalist in organ and carillon, Hebert has performed in Germany, Canada, and The Netherlands, and in 2002, he had the distinct honor of playing in England at on Winchester Cathedral’s historic organ for a Sunday morning service. As a certified carillonneur in the Guild of Carillonneurs of North America, he has performed recitals in several states and in Canada. He is also the Organist and Director of Music at Christ and Grace Episcopal Church in Petersburg, VA. His former teachers include Warren Hutton, Sandra Willetts, Granville Oldham, Michael Bauer, Simon Carrington, and Kenneth Fulton.
Last updated, 10/20/2008
