Artistic Team
Ryan Brown
Artistic DirectorDr. Ryan R. Brown is a conductor, baritone, and educator who serves as Artistic Director of the Laguna Beach Chamber Singers and Director of Choral Activities at Chapman University. His work centers on expressive communication, vocal artistry, collaboration, and creating rehearsal environments that are both artistically rigorous and deeply human.
Brown’s formative training at Westminster Choir College helped shape his approach to ensemble singing and conducting. There, he developed a strong foundation in vocal technique, diction, chamber ensemble artistry, and collaborative performance while singing with ensembles including the New York Philharmonic and Philadelphia Orchestra. These experiences reinforced his belief in chamber singing as a powerful tool for developing musical flexibility, sensitivity, and communication.
As an educator, Brown is especially passionate about mentoring conductors, music educators, and emerging artist-teachers. His teaching emphasizes the connection between gesture, vocal modeling, and clear language, an approach he is developing into a publication titled Show it, Sing it, Say it. He has previously held appointments at UCLA’s Herb Alpert School of Music, Lone Star College–University Park, California School of the Arts–San Gabriel Valley, and the National Children’s Chorus.
As a lyric baritone, Brown has appeared as a soloist with the Philadelphia Orchestra and New Haven Symphony Orchestra and has performed with ensembles including the Los Angeles Master Chorale, Houston Chamber Choir, Red Shift, and CONCORA. He earned his MM and DMA degrees in Choral Conducting from UCLA and also serves as a Teaching Artist with the VOCES8 Foundation, supporting music education and collaboration with young musicians around the world.
Evan Richards
Assistant ConductorEvan Scott Richards is a Southern California–native conductor and tenor whose work spans opera, choral music, and orchestral performance. He serves as Assistant Conductor of the Laguna Beach Chamber Singers and has performed and conducted throughout Southern California and internationally. Richards made his European conducting debut with Umberto Giordano’s Mese Mariano in Arezzo, Italy, and was appointed Conductor of the Opera Seme Festival in 2025, returning the following summer to conduct Mozart’s Così fan tutte. He has also served as a Choral Fellow at the Norfolk Chamber Music Festival at the Yale School of Music.
In Southern California, Richards is Apprentice Conductor for the Parnassus Society, Tenor Section Leader at St. Wilfrid of York, and a vocal coach at El Dorado High School. His operatic performance credits include Sesto in Giulio Cesare, Count Almaviva in Il barbiere di Siviglia with Pacific Symphony’s Opera for Kids, Tamino in Die Zauberflöte, and appearances with LA Opera, including the world premiere of Las Tres Mujeres de Jerusalén under James Conlon.
Richards earned degrees in Opera and Orchestral Conducting from Chapman University’s Hall-Musco Conservatory of Music, where he served as Assistant Conductor for Opera Chapman and the University Singers. His work there included preparing and conducting repertoire ranging from Vaughan Williams and Mahler to contemporary opera, including award-winning West Coast premieres.
Richards began his musical training as a boy soprano with the All-American Boys Chorus, performing in more than 700 concerts throughout Asia and North America before later joining the organization’s faculty. A recipient of honors including the Bramlage Opera Conducting Award and Thomas G. Hall Early Music Award, he continues to draw inspiration from collaboration, travel, and the outdoors.