Directors
John Ryan
John Ryan is the current director of the Rensselaer Concert Choir. He is an Albany native, and has degrees in Music Education from the College of Saint Rose and the Crane School of Music. Mr. Ryan has performed as a singer with many ensembles in the capital region, and has been teaching in public schools for 15 years, specializing in elementary and choral music.
Andrea O. Merrill
Andrea O. Merrill is currently the Chairperson of the Music Department at the Academy of Holy Names in Albany. She has been a frequent accompanist for many musical groups and artists in the area. She has been the accompanist for the Concert Choir at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute for nine years. Andrea has performed with Capital Artists Opera Company and Opera Excelsior. She has been heard at the Troy Music Hall as soloist and accompanist, and has been heard recently at the Cohoes Music Hall with C-R Productions. She has worked with singers and conductors from the New York City Opera and the Metropolitan Opera. As a musical director for Schenectady Light Opera Company her credits include Shenendoah, The Mikado, and The Secret Garden. This past season also included The Fantastics at Schenectady Civic Theater. After graduate school at the Catholic University of America in Washington, DC, she attended the American Institute of Musical Studies in Graz, Austria as well as the Saratoga Potsdam Choral Institute with the Philadelphia Orchestra. Andrea played for the program I've Known Rivers with Mr. Steven Marking at the Marcella Sembrich Museum and most recently an All Italian Program at the Bennington Museum. Christmas season included performances of Menotti's Amahl and the Night Visitors. Andrea maintains a private studio of piano students in Troy and in Albany as well.