Composers
Noah Ryder
1914 - 1964About
Noah Ryder (1914-1964) was a conductor, singer and educator. In 1931, he entered Hampton Institute, where he studied performance, composition, and conducting with Nathaniel Dett and Clarence Cameron White. Ryder also formed a jazz group and a quartet known as the Deep River Boys. In 1935, following graduation, he held three teaching positions throughout North Carolina. Handy Brothers Publishing began to issue his arrangements while he was choir director at this alma mater. In 1944, he began a two-year service with the Navy, after which he completed his master’s degree at the University of Michigan. He joined the music department at the Norfolk Division of Virginia State College and shortly after became head of the department. For much of the remainder of his life, he remained active in the Virginia music community conducting college and church choirs as well as community glee clubs.