BIOGRAPHY
RYAN F. BURNS, baritone, was named the National Winner of The American Prize in Vocal Performance — The Friedrich and Virginia Schorr Memorial Award, in the professional opera division for 2017-18. He performs extensively with opera companies and orchestras in the Northeast. Most recently, Ryan sang the role of Mr. More in The Seance with Hartford Opera Theater, Il Conte in Le nozze di Figaro with UCONN Opera Theater, and toured with the Jessica Lang Dance company performing The Wanderer - Schubert's Die schöne Müllerin.
Ryan has also performed with the former Opera Boston, Salt Marsh Opera, Connecticut Lyric Opera, Opera Theater of Connecticut, Opera Providence, Hartford Opera Theater, Greater Worcester Opera, and Opera del West. Additionally, Ryan has been a soloist with the New Haven Symphony, Greater Middletown Chorale, South Hadley Chorale and Orchestra, Pioneer Valley Symphony Orchestra, and the Sounds of Stow Festival Chorus and Orchestra.
In 2018, Ryan was named director of music at the Pomfret School in Pomfret, Connecticut. He has also served as program coordinator for the JOY! Conservatory Scholarship Program (UCONN) since 2017.
Ryan was a 2016-17 national finalist in the American Prize competition (Art Song Division) in the performing arts, and sang a recital at the Ukrainian Institute of America in NYC as part of their MATI Series.
In 2017, Ryan graduated with a doctorate of musical arts from the University Connecticut under the direction of Dr. Constance Rock, where he was a former Concerto Competition winner. While there, Ryan served as an adjunct instructor of Opera Studio, directing the area’s opera outreach program, in addition to serving on the music faculties of JOY Conservatory Scholarship Program, The Pomfret School, and Woodstock Academy. Ryan is a former member of the Schola Cantorum at the Cathedral of St. Joseph in Hartford, CT, and the Alchemy Vocal Chamber Ensemble.
Ryan has received training from the CoOPERAtive Program at Westminster, the VOICExperience program, and the Total Interpretation Project as part of the Capobianco Opera Studio. He has also sung in masterclasses with Matthew Polenzani, Nathan Gunn, Chuck Hudson, Laura Brooks Rice, and Sherrill Milnes.
Ryan received his MMus in vocal performance in 2012 from the University of Connecticut and a BA in criminal justice from Saint Anselm College in 2007.
He and his family live in South Windsor, Connecticut.