Visual and Performing Arts

The Visual and Performing Arts Department at Father Ryan provides students with a spectrum of opportunities for pursuing their artistic and performing talents. Whether on the stage or in the studio, students receive exceptional training from the school's teaching artists, working professionally on their craft while teaching in the classroom, in addition to outstanding workshops presented by professional performers and touring companies.

Join Father Ryan in celebrating the arts through programs in the visual and performing arts for students who wish to dance, sing, act, paint or play an instrument. Students who participate in the arts have opportunities to perform and compete locally and internationally. And our students have 37 visual and performing arts course offerings to develop their talents, the most of any private school in Middle Tennessee.

Nashville Arts magazine did a feature on the Visual and Performing Arts Department at Father Ryan in their November 2017 issue. The article, written by DeeGee Lester with photography by John Partipilo, can be found here.

Notable Alumni

List of 9 items.

  • Caroline Kole '15

    Caroline Kole ’15 has loved music for as long as she can remember. She got her first guitar at age eight and started songwriting soon after. She landed her first paying gig at age 10, started a band at 11 and has played venues with crowds as large as 30,000 people. 

  • Casey Motley '12

    Casey Motley '12 honed his craft through years of study in Nashville and through the Father Ryan Dance program, Casey followed his passion to LA and is making his dreams come true with credits that expand throughout the entertainment field. 

  • Alyssa Bonagura '06

    Alyssa Bonagura ’06 has written songs with Michelle Branch, Hunter Hayes, JD Souther, and many others. One of her songs, "I Make My Own Sunshine" was featured in a Lowe’s commercial, earning over 50,000 downloads in its first 3 months and over 1 million plays on Spotify. 

  • Paul Schlacter '01

    Paul Schlacter ’01 is as tech and art-savvy as they come working as a senior visual designer for Google NYC, the world’s leading multi-tech company. He recently completed the design and art direction for the 2017 redesign of design.google. Schlacter also worked in Google’s famed Creative Lab. 

  • Courtney Corbin Simon '00

    Courtney Corbin Simon ’00 spun and jumped her way to America’s most heralded dance company at the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater in New York, where she performed professionally from 2005 to 2009. In 2015, she founded Blooming Bébé, which offers developmental movement classes for infants and toddlers ages two months to 24 months.

  • Cruz Contreras ‘95

    Cruz Contreras ‘95 and his Americana band The Black Lilies have caught the ear of critics and fans alike. In summer 2014, Rolling Stone Magazine selected them as one of the hottest up-and-coming acts in country music, calling them “buzzworthy” and describing their style as “genre-mashing roots music with an Appalachian anchor.”

  • Erin Davie ’95

    Erin Davie ’95 has appeared on stage throughout the country as well as on television with appearances that include Law and Order: SVU, The Good Wife and Orange is the New Black. Broadway credits include: the revival of Sunday in the Park with George, Grey Gardens, Curtains (with David Hyde Pierce) and A Little Night Music in which she co-starred with Bernadette Peters, Angela Lansbury and Catherine Zeta Jones.

  • Jim McCann ’92

    Jim McCann ’92 began his career as a writer for TV and film leading him to his current work at Marvel Comics as a writer and illustrator.

  • Keith Alberstadt ’91

    Keith Alberstadt ’91 is a New York City-based stand-up comedian who has appeared onLate Night with David Letterman and Late Night with Seth Myers, been a contestant on 2014 Last Comic Standing and is a writer for SNL’s Weekend Update.

See Yourself Performing Here!

Meet the Staff

List of 8 members.

  • Kelli McClendon 

    Visual and Performing Arts Department Chair
    (615)-383-4200 x 1888

  • Julie Cox 

    Visual and Performing Arts Teacher/Choral Director/Music Ministry Coordinator/Father Ryan Singers
    615-383-4200

  • John Durand 

    Visual and Performing Arts Teacher/Environmental Awareness Club Moderator/Architecture, Construction
    (615) 383-4200 x 1854

  • Jereme Frey 

    Visual and Performing Arts Teacher/Director of Bands/Parochial School Band Director
    (615) 383-4200 x 2273

  • Lauri Dismuke 

    Visual and Performing Arts Teacher/Choreographer
    (615) 383-4200 x 1311

  • Michael Mitchell 

    (615) 383-4200 x 2155

  • Derek Schletzer 95

    Fine Arts Teacher/Associate Director of Bands
    615-383-4200

  • Jeffery Schletzer 

    Fine Arts Teacher/Associate Director of Bands
    (615) 383-4200 x 2237

List of 5 events.

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