American Lyric Tenor Ryan C. Keller has been classically trained for over 10 years, and has had experience in a wide range of genres, including opera, musical theatre, operetta, oratorio, zarzuela and contemporary works. His performances have been reviewed to be "convincing" and "nicely emotional," and his voice has been described as "exciting and rich" as well as "controlled, clean and expressive." He has also been noted to have an "engaging stage presence with a sense of ease and naturalness," as well as "possessing a flair for comedy."
Mr. Keller continually seeks out training programs to gain experience; he was a member of the Janiec Opera Company with the Brevard Music Center in North Carolina, where he portrayed the role of Freddy in My Fair Lady and received the Hester Fund for Classical Music Studies. He also sang two seasons with the College Light Opera Company on Cape Cod, Mass., where he performed in over 15 musicals and operettas, singing such roles as Fred/Petruchio in Kiss Me, Kate, and Rochester in Jane Eyre. He has performed in several opera ensembles with the Lyric Opera of Kansas City, Wichita Grand Opera, and most recently with Arizona Opera, in such productions as Lucia di Lammermoor, La Traviata, Rigoletto, and LÕelisir d'amore. In 2007, Mr. Keller was pleased to receive First Place for his division in the Arizona National Association of Teachers of Singing Competition, in Flagstaff, AZ. Mr. Keller has also performed a wide variety of operatic roles, including Justice Goodkin in the Arizona premiere of The Scarecrow, Scaramuccio in Ariadne auf Naxos, Javier in the spanish zarzuela Luisa Fernanda, Aeneas in Dido and Aeneas, Giles Corey in Robert Ward's The Crucible and The Magician in Menotti's The Consul. In May 2008, Mr. Keller traveled to Princeton, NJ, where he was a Studio Artist with Opera New Jersey's Summer Festival. Following in October 2008, he then performed in Florida as an Apprentice Artist with Sarasota Opera, for their very first Fall Opera Season. Currently, Mr. Keller is the Tenor Soloist at Pinnacle Presbyterian Church in Scottsdale, AZ, where he regularly performs as part of the Pinnacle Concert Series, "Time Out for the Arts," as well as this year's new Advent Recital Series. A native of St. Louis, Missouri, Mr. Keller received his Bachelor of Music degree in Vocal Performance from the University of Kansas, and earned his Master of Music degree in Opera Performance from Arizona State University. Mr. KellerÕs future goal is to continue gaining more experience and contacts through performances, programs and competitions, in pursuit of becoming a recognized professional tenor. He continues his private vocal studies with Dr. Jerry Doan, and resides in Phoenix, Arizona. www.ryanckeller.com