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Biography

Colin Ruffer, Director of Musical Theater and Assistant Professor of Musical Theater at Christopher Newport University, specializes in Musical Theatre singing. He received his MFA in Voice Pedagogy for Musical Theatre from Penn State University, where he trained with Mary Saunders-Barton. Ruffer also holds an MM in Voice Performance from The Boston Conservatory of Music and a BME in Music Education from Winthrop University where primary vocal teachers include Jerry Helton and Rebecca Folsom.

As a music director/vocal coach/accompanist, Colin has worked with; The New Musicals Lab, Penn State NuMusicals, The Torggler Summer Vocal Institute, The Boston Conservatory Vocal/Choral Intensive, Penn State S.T.A.T.E., The Boston Conservatory of Music, Penn State Centre Stage, Matthews Playhouse, Central Piedmont Community College, Theatre Charlotte and The Edge Theatre Company. Colin’s students have performed in National Tours, Broadway, Regional Theaters, Opera Houses and National Symphonies and Orchestras across the United States and Internationally.

Performance highlights include; The Secret Garden, Into the Woods, The Scarlet Pimpernel, Falsettos, Cinderella, Fiddler On the Roof, Oklahoma!, Lil’ Abner, Anything Goes, Once Upon a Mattress, Die Zauberflöte, La Bohemé, Transformations, the Rape of Lucretia, Carmen, Our Town and the Cunning Little Vixen. Colin has also performed as a soloist with Symphonies and Orchestras across the country, most notably at Boston’s Symphony Hall. Colin is a member of the Actors Equity Association (AEA). Recently, he wrote, directed and performed a solo cabaret that explored the trope of “Heroes and Villains” as portrayed in traditional American Musical Theatre. Portraying well-known characters ranging from Princes & Princesses to evil dentists and sassy sea witches, the material showcased Ruffer’s work with vocal cross-training and defied the norms of voice type, gender and musical limitations.

As a advocate for new musical theatre writers performers and artists of all kind, Colin serves as the Artistic Director and Vocal Supervisor for the New Musicals Lab at the Ferguson Center for the Arts. New Musicals workshopped include; We Aren’t Kids Any More by Drew Gasparini, The Violet Hour by Will Reynolds & Eric Price, Stu for Silverton by Peter Duchan & Craig Jessup, Like the Wind by Collard & Rosenblatt, True North by Holly & Kelvin Reed, ????? The Improvised Broadway Musical by Ali Reed & Adrien Pellerin, The Golden Record by Angela Sclafani & Hunter Bird, Loch Ness by Marshall Pailet & A.D. Penedo and others.
To find out more about Colin please visit www.colinruffer.com. For more information on the New Musicals Lab at the Ferguson Center for the Arts visit www.newmusicalslab.com