Staffer strikes the right note
When he isn"t working as assistant university registrar, Ryan Garrity is pursuing his passion for choral music. (Photo by Sally Asher)
Noted composer Stephen Sondheim once wrote, “If I cannot fly, let me sing.” For Ryan Garrity, it is singing that lets him take flight.
Garrity, assistant university registrar at Tulane University for nearly two years, has lived in Louisiana his whole life. In the fifth grade, a teacher urged Garrity to try out for the parish honor choir. He has been singing ever since. Though his high school did not have a choir, he studied privately and went to Loyola University on a voice scholarship.
“Choral singing … truly is a heavenly experience for me every single time.” -- Ryan Garrity, assistant university registrar
This is Garrity"s third season singing with NOVA Chorale, a group of dedicated singers, teachers, conductors and students whose goal is to bring top-rate performances of acclaimed choral music to New Orleans and the surrounding area. He also has sung in the choir at Christ Church Cathedral for 13 years.
“Choral singing is very different from solo singing,” Garrity says. “Singing in a choir, especially one that sings a cappella, or without accompaniment, requires a lot of listening so you can blend and tune your voice to those around you. It is incredibly difficult, but when it"s done correctly, and the group sings some fantastic piece of music and that last chord locks in just right, there is nothing like it. It truly is a heavenly experience for me every single time.”
On Sunday (Sept. 28) at 3 p.m., Garrity will be singing with NOVA Chorale for its first concert of the 2014-2105 season, “Terra: Sacred Contemporary World Music” at Christ Church Cathedral, 2919 St. Charles Ave. in uptown New Orleans.
The free, a cappella concert of music by Frank Martin, Sergei Rachmaninov, Moses Hogan, Kinsey Lang, Charles Wood and Michael McGlynn, along with music in Latin, Swahili, Xhosa and Hebrew, conducted by Meg Frazier, is open to the public.
