Kwamé Ryan (born 1970 in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

) is a Trinidadian conductor.

Career

Early history and education

Ryan is the son of Joya Gomez, a school teacher and actress and

Selwyn Ryan Selwyn Ryan (1936 – 12 March 2022) was a Trinidad and Tobago political scientist and pollster. Ryan has been described as "the author of record for the nation's modern political history" and "the most prolific and influential intellectual in pos ...

, a university professor. Having set his sights on a career in conducting as a pre-teen, he had his primary and early musical education at the University School, St Augustine, Trinidad and studied piano, violin and voice privately. Requiring wider exposure to Classical music, Ryan moved to the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

, where he attended

Oakham School (Like runners, they pass on the torch of life) , established = , closed = , type = Public schoolIndependent day and boarding , religion = Church of England , president ...

, in

Rutland Rutland () is a ceremonial county and unitary authority in the East Midlands, England. The county is bounded to the west and north by Leicestershire, to the northeast by Lincolnshire and the southeast by Northamptonshire. Its greatest len ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, and then studied Musicology at

Gonville and Caius College Gonville and Caius College, often referred to simply as Caius ( ), is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1348, it is the fourth-oldest of the University of Cambridge's 31 colleges and one of th ...

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...

and conducting with Peter Eötvös in Hungary. In

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, Ryan attended the

University of Tübingen The University of Tübingen, officially the Eberhard Karl University of Tübingen (german: Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen; la, Universitas Eberhardina Carolina), is a public research university located in the city of Tübingen, Baden-Wü ...

for two years, for language and culture studies.

Conducting career

From 1999 to 2003, Ryan served as ''Generalmusikdirektor'' (General Music Director) of the Freiburg Opera and Freiburg Philharmonic Orchestra. His work there included wide-ranging operatic and concert performances, and a commercial recording of

Luigi Nono Luigi Nono (; 29 January 1924 – 8 May 1990) was an Italian avant-garde composer of classical music. Biography Early years Nono, born in Venice, was a member of a wealthy artistic family; his grandfather was a notable painter. Nono beg ...

's ''

Prometeo ''Prometeo'' (''Prometheus'') is an "opera" by Luigi Nono, written between 1981 and 1984 and revised in 1985. Here the word "opera" carries the generic Italian meaning of "works", as in work of art, and not its usual meaning. Indeed, Nono scornf ...

''. In 2007, Ryan became Music Director of the

Orchestre National Bordeaux Aquitaine The ''Orchestre National Bordeaux Aquitaine'' (ONBA) is a French symphony orchestra based in Bordeaux. Its principal concert venue is the ''Palais des sports''. In addition to its regular symphony concerts, the ONBA serves as the accompanying orches ...

(ONBA), holding the post until 2013. In 2008, he was also named Music Director of Orchestre Français des Jeunes, a post he held until 2011. As a guest conductor in Germany, Ryan conducted the Radio Orchestras of Stuttgart and Bavaria, the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie, Konzerthausorchester Berlin, Staatsoper Saarbrücken and Staatsoper Stuttgart, while in France, he worked with Opera de la Bastille, Opera de Lyon and the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France. Work in the U.S and the U.K. included visits to the Symphony Orchestras of Baltimore, Dallas, Detroit, Indianapolis, Atlanta, Houston, Boston Lyric Opera, English National Opera, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Royal Scottish Symphony and the London Philharmonia. Other important guest conducting engagements include repeated invitations to the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra and the BBC Proms and operatic productions for La Monnaie, Brussels and Dutch National Opera. A passionate educator, Ryan was appointed Professor and Director of the University of Trinidad and Tobago's National Academy for the Performing Arts in 2015, focusing on youth arts and community development projects until the end of his tenure in 2022. Ryan then returned to the podium full-time and currently conducts worldwide as a freelancer.

Recordings

Ryan's recordings include ''

Simplicius Simplicissimus ''Simplicius Simplicissimus'' (german: link=no, Der abenteuerliche Simplicissimus Teutsch) is a picaresque novel of the lower Baroque style, written in 1668 by Hans Jakob Christoffel von Grimmelshausen and probably published the same year (althou ...

'' by

Karl Amadeus Hartmann Karl Amadeus Hartmann (2 August 1905 – 5 December 1963) was a German composer. Sometimes described as the greatest German symphonist of the 20th century, he is now largely overlooked, particularly in English-speaking countries. Life Born in ...

with Stuttgart State Opera (2005, DVD), Vortex Temporum by Gerard Grisey and works by

Salvatore Sciarrino Salvatore Sciarrino (born 4 April 1947) is an Italian composer of contemporary classical music. Described as "the best-known and most performed Italian composer" of the present day, his works include ''Quaderno di strada'' (2003) and ''La porta d ...

with Ensemble Recherché, ''

'' by Luigi Nono, ''

Neither Neither is an English pronoun, adverb, and determiner signifying the absence of a choice in an either/or situation. Neither may also refer to: * ''Neither'' (opera), the only opera by Morton Feldman * "neither" (short story), a very short s ...

'' by Feldman, Schubert's Symphony No. 9, and Rachmaninov's Symphony No. 2 (with Orchestre National Bordeaux Aquitaine).

References

External links