Colin Ruffer, Assistant Professor of Theater at CNU, 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 Rebecca Folsom.

As a music director/vocal coach/accompanist, Ruffer has worked with Penn State NuMusicals, 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.

Performance highlights include 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. Ruffer has also performed as a soloist with the Toledo Symphony, Troy Symphony, and at Boston’s Symphony Hall.

Most recently, Ruffer 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.