Ryan P. Murphy

We hit the ground running at the first lesson! Often we'll chat on the phone for a while beforehand. I'm always available via text or phone call on my cell.

Well, here's my bio:

Ryan Patrick Murphy is the Director of Music and Liturgy at St. Barnabas the Apostle Catholic Church in O’Fallon, Missouri, where he serves as organist, choirmaster, and cantor and provides music for Lauds and Mass in the Traditional Roman Rite every week. He recently completed a term as Interim Organist of the Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis, during which he played for over fifteen bishops, Carlo Maria Viganò, former Apostolic Nuncio to the United States, and Louis Alphonse of Bourbon, Duke of Anjou.

Mr. Murphy has also served as the Organist, Choirmaster, and Cantor of the Oratory of St. Philip Neri in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and of St. John’s Lutheran Church of Highland, also in Pittsburgh. He was an organist and cantor at the St. Paul Cathedral in Pittsburgh and has performed as an organist in six states and the District of Columbia. In 2011 he came in third in the Rodgers North American Classical Organ Competition and was a winner of the 2005 Duquesne University Concerto Competition, playing Dimitri Shostakovich’s second piano concerto.

Mr. Murphy is the founder of the Schola Cantorum of the Pittsburgh Oratory, a Gregorian chant choir that performed with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Manfred Honeck. Ryan has studied chant with Scott Turkington, William Mahrt, Fr. Stephen Concordia, and Dom Daniel Saulnier in Solesmes, France. He served as the Gregorian chant faculty member at the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest Choir Camp from 2015 through 2017.

Mr. Murphy has a Master of Music degree in Organ Performance from Cleveland State University, where he studied with Horst Buchholz. He has a Bachelor of Music degree in Piano Performance from Duquesne University, where he studied with Natasha Snitkovsky. He teaches piano, organ, and voice privately to about forty students throughout the St. Louis metropolitan area. A Colleague of the American Guild of Organists, he enjoys cycling, golfing, dancing, and reading in his free time. Ryan lives in St. Charles, Missouri with his wife Kelsey, daughter Cecily, and son coming in November 2022.

I require pre-payment for all lessons except the first. Lesson fees are paid for in advance at the conclusion of the last lesson of the month (for example, April’s lessons are paid for at the end of the last lesson in March). I accept payment electronically, via check, or in cash, though I prefer Venmo, Apple Pay or Zelle.

I was sought out as a teacher while I was still an undergraduate student. I started with just one student, and the rest is history!

All kinds! Teaching each and every lesson to each and every student is an adventure to me, so I do love my work. I'm capable of teaching advanced students, but most of my students are beginners. It's thrilling to see progress.

My studio recital on August 26. My beginning students played duets for the first time, AP played a whole Mozart Sonata, and KM played a very difficult transcription of video game music he'd been working on for over 5 months!

For piano lessons, look for someone who puts the highest importance on counting out loud while playing and on reading the music. Those are two extremely important skills that are very hard to develop without a good teacher. For voice lessons, find a teacher that focuses on proper singing technique so that you'll sound your best and won't have trouble with your vocal chords in the long term.

Whether or not they're able to commit to quality daily practice, even if it's limited. The more of a beginner you are the more incremental your progress is, so frequency of practice is important. Also, keep in mind that the students that do what their teacher tells them to do progress the fastest!