Monmouth Civic Chorus May 2016 Concert - Heavenly Harmony

Artistic Director Dr. Ryan James Brandau will lead the award-winning Monmouth Civic Chorus in Heavenly Harmony on Friday, May 13, 2016 at 7:30 p.m. at the First Presbyterian Church, 255 Harding Road (Tower Hill), Red Bank. The music includes the visionary Five Mystical Songs by Ralph Vaughan Williams, Handel’s triumphant Ode for St. Cecilia’s Day, and the buoyant Choral Dances from Gloriana by Benjamin Britten. Tickets are $30 adult, $27 senior, $25 group, $5 student. Tickets and information are available at (732) 933-9333 or www.monmouthcivicchorus.org.

Artistic Director Ryan James Brandau has broad experience conducting a variety of choral and orchestral ensembles. In addition to his work with Monmouth Civic Chorus, he serves as Artistic Director of Princeton Pro Musica and Amor Artis, a chamber choir and orchestra in New York City. He is also on the faculty of Westminster Choir College, where he works with the Symphonic Choir, which he has prepared for performances with the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Vienna Philharmonic, Berlin Philharmonic, and the New Jersey Symphony. He remains active as a choral arranger, composer, and clinician, whose arrangements and compositions have been featured by choral ensembles across the globe. Ryan received the Doctor of Musical Arts and Master of Music degrees from the Yale School of Music. Prior to pursuing graduate study in conducting, Ryan attended the University of Cambridge in the UK as a Gates Scholar, earning an M.Phil. in historical musicology. He received his B.A. in music, magna cum laude, from Princeton University.

The Monmouth Civic Chorus has been called "near-flawless" (Asbury Park Press), "alive and evocative" (The Star-Ledger) and "superior" (Red Bank Green). The Chorus is the proud recipient of the 2008 ASCAP/Chorus America Alice Parker Award, and the 2010 Spinnaker Award for Arts and Culture from the Eastern Monmouth Area Chamber of Commerce.