Best Grammy-Winning Group You May Have Never Heard (or Heard Of)

Read about it here or pick up a copy of this week’s New Times and turn to page 260, in the Nightlife section.

"Rebirth" by Holly Sheppard

Also in this week’s New Times issue is artwork by our own Holly Sheppard.  Titled “Rebirth,” you can find it on page 235. Holly’s “Rebirth” was inspired in part by Ola Gjeilo’s piece “Phoenix” (which we premiered last season).  Ola Gjeilo is the Phoenix Chorale’s composer-in-residence this season.

You can see “Rebirth” in person at the New Times’ Wonderland exhibit opening at the [merz]project (1437 N. 1st Street, Phoenix) on October 2 or any time during October.  The Wonderland exhibit will showcase all of the art created for this special annual edition of the New Times by artists from all over the Valley.  The [merz]project is next door to the Burton Barr Central Library.

AND on October 16, we’ll perform for FREE at the [merz]project.  A special evening reception on October 16 features a performance by the Phoenix Chorale.  Details here.

Phoenix Chorale alto Holly Sheppard

A native of New Mexico, Holly Sheppard moved to Phoenix in 2003 to attend the University of Advancing Technology.  She works full time as an environment artist at Rainbow Studios, a local video game design company. She’s been singing with the Chorale since 2006.

2008 Grammy for Best Small Ensemble Performance

With singers, board members, staff, friends and family all gathered around, we opened the box last night.

See more photos of the reveal here.

I asked Ryan how he felt about the headline in the Wyoming Tribune Eagle and he laughed saying, “Family and friends sent it to me, the response was incredible. It’s something that I mentioned in that paper’s interview and there is some truth in it.”

To give you a better idea of Ryan, he attended the University of Wyoming studying violin and he received a degree in music education in 2001. Soon after he moved to Denver where he taught orchestra and choir at a middle school for three years.

Ryan moved to Phoenix to obtain a master’s degree in music education at Arizona State University and joined the Phoenix Chorale in March 2005. He learned of the Chorale through his roommate, Phoenix Chorale tenor Erik Gustafson. “I found out through Erik, and other people in the choir, including Laura Inman,” says Ryan. “They needed a substitute baritone at a concert five years ago. I guess I was in the right place at the right time!”

Recently, Ryan traveled to Los Angeles with other members of the Chorale to the 51st Grammy Awards where they were up for four Grammy nominations. The Phoenix Chorale won the Grammy for “Best Small Ensemble Performance,” recognizing the choir’s fantastic performance ability.

Today, Ryan is an instructor at Arizona State University and has held this position for four and a half years, conducting and assisting the ASU Choral Ensembles and is the Director of Music at The Episcopal Church of the Epiphany. Outside of being musically inclined, Ryan enjoys the outdoors including running, lifting, camping, fishing, traveling to Colorado, Wyoming, and being with good friends at Four Peaks and Old Chicago in Tempe.

For now, Ryan hopes to complete his DMA this year where he plans, as he says “…to be the next Charles Bruffy and never step into a school again—unless it’s to make some money!” Ryan says he enjoys his time with the Phoenix Chorale and all the good times with his colleagues and friends that this musical group provides.

It has been awe-inspiring for me to write about one of the Phoenix Chorale’s singers and learn more about who he is, his dreams and his future plans. The “music nerd” and Grammy Award-winning singer Ryan Garrison, has certainly established his heart in music sharing it with his students, colleagues and friends.

You can meet Ryan at our free First Friday Rehearsal Friday, March 6 from 6:30-9:30 p.m. on Roosevelt Row. Details here.

-Erika Eve Gonzalez, Public Relations Intern