Dr. Ryan Sullivan

Director of Choral Activities

Coordinator of Vocal Studies

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Education

• D.M.A, University of North Texas, Choral Conducting
• M.M., Texas Tech University, Choral Conducting
• B.M.E., University of Missouri - Kansas City, Choral Music Education
• B.M., University of Missouri - Kansas City, Voice Performance

Teaching Specialties

• Choral Ensembles
• Conducting
• Historical Performance
• Secondary Methods

Research Interests

• Conducting Pedagogy
• Performing Arts Health
• Historical Performance Practice

Affiliations

• American Choral Directors Association
• Early Music America
• National Association for Music Education
• Performing Arts Medicine Association

Curriculum Vitae

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Biography

Ryan W. Sullivan is the Director of Choral Activities, Coordinator of Vocal Studies, and an Associate Professor of Music at Arkansas State University. He conducts the flagship Concert Choir, Jonesboro Chorale, and Singing Statesmen. He teaches undergraduate and graduate coursework in conducting and music education. Prior to his time at A-State, Sullivan was the Associate Conductor for the Dallas Symphony Chorus for regular performances with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra and on tour with the Swedish Radio Orchestra, Tallinn Filharmoonie, and Lahti Symphony Orchestra. He has also been a chorus master for performances with the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra. He has conducted North American premieres of operas by Vít Zouhar and Lucille Grétry, as well as world premieres of choral works by Nell Shaw Cohen, James Eakin III, Derek Jenkins, Douglas Helvering, and Robert Beaser. His performances have been broadcast on Radio Suisse, WFIU’s Harmonia Uncut, KASU’s Arkansas Roots, and KJNB FOX/CBS.

Sullivan is an active conductor nationally and internationally. He has recently been a festival conductor and adjudicator in Arizona, Colorado, Kansas, Michigan, Missouri, Nevada, and Texas, and has conducted Region choirs throughout Arkansas. In 2025, the A-State Concert Choir performed at the Music by Women Festival. International credits include the Lisbon Music Fest in 2023 and guest teaching German universities such as the Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst in Stuttgart and the Hochschule für Kirchenmusik in Rottenburg. In 2026, Sullivan will return to Germany with the A-State Choirs for a series of concerts in Bavaria and Baden-Würtemburg, including the famous Stiftskirche Stunde in Stuttgart. As a singer, he has performed in professional ensembles such as the Santa Fe Desert Chorale, San Antonio Chamber Choir, The Cecilia Ensemble (GA), Spire Chamber Ensemble, Boston Early Music Festival, Austin Baroque Orchestra, and Kammerchor der Künste Berlin.

In addition to conducting, Dr. Sullivan is also a researcher and lecturer with particular interests in performing arts health and performance practice. His articles and publications have been published in the Choral Journal, International Journal for Research in Choral Singing, the Southwestern Connection, the Web Library for Seventeenth-Century Music, and Sing Out! (published by the Australian National Choral Association). He has presented a variety of topics related to choral pedagogy and performing arts health at professional conferences in Arkansas, Colorado, Mississippi, and Missouri.

Sullivan served as President of the Southwestern Region of the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA) and member of the National Board from 2020 – 2022. He is a current nominee for the 2026 GRAMMY Music Educator of the Year Award, a recipient of the Trailblazer Award from Arkansas ACDA, the Prelude Award from Missouri ACDA, and the Adams-Nordstrom Award for early music studies at the University of North Texas. He holds a Doctor of Musical Arts from the University of North Texas, a Master of Music from Texas Tech University, and undergraduate degrees in Music Education and Vocal Performance from the University of Missouri – Kansas City Conservatory of Music. His primary teachers have been Allen Hightower, Richard Bjella, Joshua Habermann (conducting), Vinson Cole and William Joyner (voice), and Brad Bennight (continuo harpsichord). In addition to his work at A-State, Sullivan is a consultant for Carus-Verlag Publishing and a grant reviewer for the National Endowment for the Arts.