Music in the Mountains’ Resident Conductor Murray wins prestigious Ansbacher Fellowship in Vienna

Music in the Mountains is excited to announce that Resident Conductor and Choral Director Ryan Murray was just selected as a winner of the prestigious 2014 Ansbacher Fellowship for Young Conductors with the Vienna Philharmonic through the American Austrian Foundation.  

This fellowship provides promising young conductors from the United States the opportunity to spend up to four weeks at the Salzburg Festival in August, observing the world’s leading conductors and artists at work during rehearsals and performances.

Ryan has been the Choral Director of the Music in the Mountains Chorale since 2008, garnering rave reviews from audiences and performers alike.

Additionally, Ryan was recently named Music Director for the Modesto Symphony Youth Orchestra, as well as being named Artistic Director of the Napa Valley Youth Symphony; with which he will make his conducting debut at Carnegie Hall in New York during the 2014 season in June.

Widely praised for his skill on the podium, Ryan’s dynamic conducting, affable personality and deeply-held passion for the arts has allowed him to connect deeply with orchestras and audiences alike.

Ryan graduated summa cum laude from California State University, Sacramento, with degrees in bassoon and vocal performance. While completing his studies at CSUS, he served as Assistant Conductor of the orchestra and opera programs and performed as a guest soloist. He went on to teach bassoon at California State University, Sacramento in 2010.

Travel to Salzburg Festival

Ansbacher Fellows will live at Schloss Arenberg, located a mere ten minutes from the Festival Hall, where they also be able to interact with members of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, who are in residence at Schloss Arenberg during the month of August.

The Salzburg Festival (“Salzburger Festspiele”), founded in August 1920 by Max Reinhard and Hugo von Hofmansthal, is the benchmark for all festivals worldwide and each year unique opera and concert productions bring together the world’s finest singers, conductors and musicians.

Ansbacher Fellowship for Young Conductors is operated by The American Austrian Foundation and funded by the Charles A. Ansbacher Foundation in memory of Maestro Charles Ansbacher, who passed away in September 2010. 

Maestro Ansbacher joined the boards of directors of The American Austrian Foundation and the Salzburg Stiftung of the AAF in 1995, and began his generous sponsorship of this Fellowship in 1998.

—Music in the Mountains and American Austrian Foundation

(Submitted photo)