After a nationwide search, Arizona Repertory Singers had only to look in its own backyard to find a new director.
Ryan Phillips, a native of Tucson who got his musical start with the Tucson Arizona Boys Chorus, will take over the volunteer ensemble for its 2019-20 season.
“It’s so nice to be back in Tucson,” Phillips said in a written statement. “I grew up here, and I’m looking forward to reconnecting with the Tucson musical community. So many of my friends and mentors are here.”
Phillips just finished his master’s degree in choral conducting from Northern Arizona University. He earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of Arizona.
Phillips replaces Elliot Jones, who led the Repertory Singers for three seasons after the death of longtime ARS Director Jeffry Jahn. Jones resigned at the end of last season and the singers launched a national search for his replacement.
“After a nationwide search, we are delighted to have found what we were looking for right here in Tucson,” ARS President Ken Rosenblatt said in a written statement, calling Phillips “a rising star in the classical music scene of this city.”
Phillips performed with the Boys Chorus for seven years as a youth including singing in the annual holiday concerts at San Xavier Mission, a performance with Linda Ronstadt and a tour of South Africa.
“The Tucson Boys Chorus was a foundation of my musical education,” he said. “It was where I first learned to represent and serve my community as a musician and a leader.”
During his undergraduate years at UA, he served as assistant director of Tucson Masterworks Chorale and the Helios Ensemble. He also was music director at the Academy of Tucson High School and choir director at Holy Way Presbyterian Church.
He continued leading choirs in Flagstaff including the Harold M. Harter Memorial Handbell Choir and Chamber Singers.
“Ryan is an expressive conductor,” Edith Copley, one of his professors at NAU, said in a written statement. “He honors the music, connects with the audience and truly cares about the people in his ensemble.”
The choir this season will perform its holiday concert four times, on Dec. 6 and 8 and Dec. 13 and 15, at churches around the city. The spring concert, whose dates have not been announced, will include a program exploring “the relationship we have with one another and our world, including connections in faith, music, and love,” Phillips said. Works on that program will include classics composed by Purcell, Brahms, Finzi and Vaughan Williams as well as an anthem arranged by Dolly Parton.
Arizona Repertory Singers has been around since 1984. Its 45 members who audition for a spot in the choir are between the ages of 20 and late 70s.
