Christopher O. Ryder, D. M. A.

Kanawha County Chorus MIDI files

Voice Class Web Site

Dr. Christopher O. Ryder is Director of Choral Activities and Assistant Professor of Music at Randolph-Macon College in Ashland Virginia, where he directs the Concert Choir and Chamber Singers, as well as teaching classes in Music Fundamentals and Music Technology. In 2006, Dr. Ryder was awarded the faculty “Rookie of the Year” award by the Randolph-Macon Student Government Association. In 2007, he was nominated for and inducted into the R-MC chapter of Omicron Delta Kappa -- The National Leadership Honor Society. Also in 2006, he received Randolph-Macon College’s Thomas Branch Award for Excellence in Teaching. Prior to coming to Randolph-Macon, he taught at Concord University in Athens, West Virginia, and in the Stafford and Spotsylvania County Virginia school systems.

Dr. Ryder has also served as Music Director of the Maranatha Touring Choir of Fredericksburg since 1991. Maranatha is an interdenomational touring choir made up of students in grade eight through college. The choir currently has members representing 40 churches in the Fredericksburg area, and has toured to 33 states and Canada. Dr. Ryder has directed District, County, and Regional Choruses, and has also judged middle school and high school choral festivals in Virginia and West Virginia. In addition to his work as a conductor, he has directed music for many theater productions for high schools, colleges, and community theaters. He has also been active as a singer with the Chamber Chorale of Fredericksburg, and with the West Virginia Symphony Chorus. Currently, he sings in the choir at Trinity Episcopal Church in Fredericksburg, and plays viola in the University of Mary Washington Symphony Orchestra.

Dr. Ryder holds a Bachelor of Arts in Music from Mary Washington College, where he completed majors in voice and viola. He also holds a Master of Arts in Choral Conducting from George Mason University, where he studied conducting with Dr. Stan Engebretson. He also studied conducting with Dr. Deen Entsminger while earning a Doctor of Musical Arts in Music Education at the Shenandoah Conservatory.