Monmouth Civic Chorus

Monmouth Civic Chorus (MCC) is a community chorus in Monmouth County, New Jersey dedicated to artistic excellence. In addition to singing locally, they have brought the finest in choral music to audiences around the world since 1949. 

Among their most memorable performances are Carnegie Hall, the New Jersey Performing Arts Center with the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, St. Thomas Church on Fifth Avenue in New York City, St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican in Rome, and St. Stephen’s Cathedral in Vienna with members of the Vienna State Opera Orchestra.  MCC has been called “close to perfect” and “among the very best in the entire Northeast” (Asbury Park Press). They engage soloists heard in major concert halls in New York and around the world. Hand-picked professional instrumentalists accompany the chorus and play orchestral works.  MCC is proud to be the 2008 winner of the Chorus America/ASCAP Alice Parker Award, given to only one chorus in North America each year, and the 2010 Spinnaker Award for Arts and Culture from the Eastern Monmouth Area Chamber of Commerce.

Its Artistic Director Dr. Ryan James Brandau brings to Monmouth Civic Chorus broad and deep experience conducting choral and orchestral ensembles. In addition to his work with Monmouth Civic Chorus, he serves as Artistic Director of Princeton Pro Musica and Amor Artis, a chamber choir and orchestra in New York City. He is also on the faculty of Westminster Choir College where he has prepared Westminster Symphonic Choir for performances with Philadelphia Orchestra, Vienna Philharmonic, Berlin Philharmonic, and New Jersey Symphony.

Previously, Ryan was Director of Choral Activities at Santa Clara University, where he led the choral ensembles and taught music history and conducting in the music department; Artistic Director of the Santa Clara Chorale; choirmaster of the highly-acclaimed professional choir of Christ Church, New Haven; and Assistant Director of Choral Activities at Smith College in Northampton, MA. He has worked with a variety of other professional, community, collegiate, children’s, and church ensembles. He has also prepared ensembles for performances with Yannick Nezet-Seguin, Daniel Barenboim, and others.

As a professional singer, Ryan has been heard with ensembles in the US, Europe, and Asia, including American Bach Soloists, Arcadia Players, Yale Schola Cantorum, and Choir of Clare College Cambridge. He founded a women’s chamber choir, Conspiratio, and sang with the choirs of Jesus, King’s, and Clare Colleges while in Cambridge, UK. He remains active as a choral arranger, composer, and clinician. His arrangements and compositions have been featured by choral ensembles all across the globe.