Ryan Luhrs

Ryan Luhrs is assistant professor of music and director of choral activities at Andrew College in Cuthbert, Georgia. He conducts the college’s premiere music ensemble, Choraliers, and teaches courses in music theory, aural skills, music appreciation, applied voice, and applied piano. Ryan holds a doctorate in choral conducting and music education from Florida State University, a masters of sacred music from Luther Seminary (with St. Olaf College), and a bachelor of arts in music from Luther College. Prior to graduate study, Ryan taught music in public schools in Iowa and Minnesota. As a church musician, he served congregations in Minnesota and Georgia and was a member of the Minneapolis-based National Lutheran Choir from 2008 to 2012.

A proponent of using singing in groups in an attempt to break down social barriers, Ryan has organized choral festivals in each of the four communities he has lived since college, including locations in rural Minnesota, southwestern Georgia, and Tallahassee, Florida. His doctoral dissertation entitled Singing for Social Harmony: Choir Member Perceptions During Intergroup Contact investigated how choral music functions in settings where people of diverse backgrounds are present. Recently, Ryan was one of twelve songleaders nationwide selected to participate in Raising the Song: Creating Communities that Sing, a symposium led by Alice Parker, Marilyn Haskel, and Ysaye Barnwell, held at the Virginia Theological Seminary in Alexandria, Virginia in the fall of 2015 and 2016.