Ryan P. McEldowney is appointed director of music and organist for St. Boniface Catholic Church, Louisville, Kentucky. He leaves a position at St. Anthony of Padua Catholic Church and School, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He also served for seven years as director of liturgical music at St. Francis de Sales Seminary in the Archdiocese of Milwaukee. McEldowney holds a Master of Music degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and completed his undergraduate studies in music at Carroll University in Waukesha, Wisconsin.
In a career in sacred music that began when he was in high school, McEldowney has performed at churches across Wisconsin, leading choirs and serving as guest organist at the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist in Milwaukee, the Basilica of the National Shrine of Mary, Help of Christians at Holy Hill, and the Basilica of St. Josaphat. Choirs under his direction have been featured in nine nationally broadcast television Masses for Heart of the Nation.
As a singer, McEldowney has won awards from the Wisconsin chapters of the National Association of Teachers of Singing and Music Teachers National Association. He was presented the Wartmann Voice Award and Laura Stroud Bartsch Music Award, in addition to representing Wisconsin in the 2012 MTNA Young Artist Competition, where he was the top-placing male and earned second place overall in the East Central Division. He has been a featured soloist in orchestral works with the Waukesha Choral Union, the Wisconsin Chamber Choir, and the Concordia Civic Chorale and Orchestra. On the operatic stage, McEldowney has performed leading tenor roles with the Milwaukee Opera Theatre, Candid Concert Opera, Festival Aurora Borealis, and the University of Wisconsin Opera.
McEldowney is a student at the University of Louisville, pursuing a doctoral degree in dental medicine.
