Ron Bermingham - Voice Teacher - Coach - Music Director & Conductor
Ron Bermingham - Voice Teacher - Coach - Music Director & Conductor

Ron Bermingham

Ron Bermingham studied voice with Pierre Fleta at the Conservatoire Royal de Musique in Liège, Belgium (Premier prix - chant; Premier prix - art lyrique; Diplôme supérieur), and with Canadian Bass Baritone Gaston Germain at the Université de Montréal. His acting skills were honed in the musical theatre program at Arizona State University (M.A.), and in the opera programs at Indiana University, the University of British Columbia, the Université de Montréal (M.Mus.) and McGill University (Ph.D.).  A regional finalist in the Metropolitan Opera Auditions (Seattle) and gold medal winner at the Francisco Viñas International Voice Competition in Barcelona, Spain, Ron has sung with the Canadian Opera Company, with the Vancouver and Edmonton Operas, and with opera companies in Belgium, France, Holland and Germany.  He has performed the standard oratorio and operatic repertoire as a guest soloist with symphony orchestras across Canada and the United States, and has recorded for PBS, CBC radio and television, and the NDR in Hamburg, Germany.

 

After a 20 year career on the operatic stage, Ron’s curiosity about musical theater was piqued by the growing interest of students in his voice studio. By the time the final page had been turned on the 20th century, his curiosity had turned into a fascination, and his fascination into a new profession. In 2001, Ron accepted a position in the Musical Theatre Division at the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts (NOCCA/Riverfront), and after a year teaching musical theatre students how to sing, was appointed to the Theatre Arts Department as an Assistant Chair and head of NOCCA's Musical Theatre Division. During this time, Ron served as music director and conductor for all musicals produced at NOCCA, including the New Orlean's premier of Side Show (Russell and Krieger) and Floyd Collins (Landau and Guettel).  In 2006, he was among a handful of teachers nominated for the  Distinguished Teachers in the Arts award by the National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts. Guest conducting appearances with Jefferson Performing Arts in New Orleans ensued (Oliver, Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, Evita, Annie and Mike Artell's Petite Rouge: A Cajun Red Riding Hood), with Baton Rouge Little Theater (Pajama Game and  Showboat), and with New Orleans' Le Petit Théâtre du Vieux Carré (Damn Yankees).

 

Post Katrina, Ron kept his voice studio in New Orleans thriving while working as Director of Artistic Operations for three of Louisiana’s symphony orchestras: the Baton Rouge Symphony (2006-2009), the Louisiana Philharmonic (2010-2012), and the Shreveport Symphony (2013-2015). While in Shreveport, Ron joined the music faculty at the Hurley School of Music, Centenary College, as a Lecturer in voice and musical theatre, and while at Centenary, directed and conducted the Tony Award winning Urinetown, the Musical (Hollmann and Kotis), and in the Spring of 2015, a new production of Rags (music by Charles Strouse, lyrics by Stephen Schwartz, book by Joseph Stein).

 

Today, as a result of their perseverance and hard work, many students who have trained in Ron’s voice studio have auditioned for and been accepted by many of North America’s finest BFA programs in Musical Theatre, and those now graduated, are appearing in major regional theatres across North America, on national tours (Cats, A Christmas Story, Cinderella, Book of Mormon, Matilda, Memphis, Mamma Mia), and on Broadway (Les Misérables, Book of Mormon, Beautiful, Anastasia). 

 

Since moving to Wenatchee, WA in the summer of 2015, Ron has appeared in the role of Grandpa Potts in the All District Musical production of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, and as Dr. Engel in the Student Prince  at the Icicle Creek Center for the Arts.  He has music directed and/or conducted Chicago (Hot August Nights) and Young Frankenstein (Apple Blossom Muscial).  He also directed the Apollo Club Men's Chorus, the Chamber Ensemble at Wenatche Valley College, and was Managing Director of the Julian Patrick Summer Vocal Intensive, all of which were suspended during the Covid-19 Pandemic.

 

In January 2020, Ron was appointed Managing Director of the Wenatchee Valley Symphony, a position he held until the official end of the Pandemic in June 2023. Ron is now a member of the voice faculty at the Music Conservatory of Westchester (NY).

 

Member - Lifetime member: Actors Equity Association (Toronto)

 

 

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