Karen MacDonald Ruymann

Position
Assistant Professor of Core Studies
Affiliated Departments
Expertise
music history

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As a longtime faculty member, I love encouraging students to explore the "why" behind the music they choose to perform. 

Karen MacDonald Ruymann joined the Conservatory faculty in 2003 and is an assistant professor of core studies specializing in music history. She is a musicologist who specializes in opera and contemporary music and lectures extensively on all aspects of music history and literature in the greater Boston area. In addition to past research into the intersection of wit in the music of Henry Purcell, utilizing texts by British poet laureate John Dryden, Ruymann is interested in recently composed American art music, especially as integrated into performance art. 

Ruymann pursued her doctoral work at Boston University, from which she holds an M.A. in musicology. In addition, she enjoyed a long singing career in Boston and Cleveland, Ohio before joining the faculty at Boston Conservatory. She earned both an A.D. and M.A. (summa cum laude) in vocal performance from The Cleveland Institute of Music and graduated with honors from Gettysburg College with a B.S. in music education. Ruymann currently resides in Boston and Cape Cod.