FOUNDING EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

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Pianist and collaborator, Eastman School of Music graduate Judith Ryder infuses her arts leadership roles with passion. As one of its founders and Executive Director of Cleveland Arts Education Consortium since 2008, Judy oversees all activities for the Consortium’s diverse member network. Prior to this, she was Founding Director of Cleveland Opera on Tour, Cleveland Opera’s self-sustaining education and outreach wing, bringing opera to many communities, and over the years, impacting the lives of two million children and adults, and recipient of the Ohio Governor’s Award, She created and directed all programs and productions for a roster of 35 artists while also serving as the company’s mainstage Music Administrator, vocal coach and production keyboardist from 1976 to 2007.

Judy was Music Director for Old Wicked Songs and Master Class with Reuben and Dorothy Silver and the award-winning Cain Park production of Nine. She was keyboardist-coach for the Robert Page Singers, Western Reserve Opera, music director of Kent State's production of The Crucible, and pianist for Nightingale Opera's Pinocchio production. She was pianist with the Thalia Trio and a faculty member at The Cleveland Institute of Music and The Music Settlement. Judy is the pianist with four singers in the Red Campion Ensemble, currently presenting concerts and educational programming throughout the region. Along with the Governor's Award, she was a Young Audiences Arts Education Champion and recipient of the Vocal Arts Resource Network’s Ovation award, and the National Guild Milestone Award for longstanding exceptional service to the field.