Kwamé Ryan
Kwamé Ryan (born in Toronto, Ontario) is a Trinidadian-Canadian conductor.
Biography
[edit]Early history and education
[edit]Ryan is the son of Joya Gomez, a school teacher and actress and Selwyn Ryan, a university professor. He had his primary and early musical education at the University School, St Augustine, Trinidad.[1] A month after his birth, the family moved to Uganda. Several years later, the family moved to Trinidad.[2] He studied piano, violin and voice privately.
Ryan subsequently moved to the United Kingdom, where he attended Oakham School, in Rutland, England. He then studied musicology at Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge. His UK mentors included Mark Elder. In Germany, Ryan attended the University of Tübingen for two years, for language and culture studies.[3] Ryan later studied conducting with Peter Eötvös in Hungary.[4] Other conducting mentors included Lothar Zagrosek.[2]
Conducting career
[edit]From 1999 to 2003, he served as Generalmusikdirektor (GMD, General Music Director) of the Freiburg Opera and Freiburg Philharmonic Orchestra.
In 2007, Ryan became music director of the Orchestre National Bordeaux Aquitaine (ONBA), for an initial contract of 3 years. He held the ONBA post until June 2013, during which period several commercial recordings were released.[5] He served as music director of l'Orchestre Français des Jeunes from 2008 to 2011.[6]
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. In January 2023, Ryan first guest-conducted the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra. Ryan returned to the Charlotte Symphony for an additional guest-conducting engagement in November 2023. In December 2023, the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra announced the appointment of Ryan as its next music director, effective as of the 2024-2025 season, with an initial contract of 4 years.[7][8]
As a guest conductor in Germany, Ryan has conducted the Radio Orchestras of Stuttgart and Bavaria, the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie, Konzerthausorchester Berlin, Staatsoper Saarbrücken and Staatsoper Stuttgart, while in France, he has worked at Opera de la Bastille, Opera de Lyon and the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France. Work in the U.S and the U.K. has led to invitations to conduct at the Metropolitan Opera, Washington National Opera, Opera Theater St. Louis, Boston Lyric Opera, the New York Philharmonic as well as the Symphony Orchestras of Baltimore, Dallas, Detroit, Indianapolis, Atlanta, Houston,English National Opera and the London Philharmonia.
He has been a regular guest of the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra, the BBC Proms and Dutch National Opera in collaboration with the Residence Orchestra, The Hague and the Rotterdam Philharmonic. In 2024, he returned to La Monnaie, Brussels for the revival of Kris De Foort’s The Time of our Singing, his 2021 premiere of which won an International Opera Award as World Premiere of the year.
Recordings
[edit]Ryan's recordings include:
- Simplicius Simplicissimus by Karl Amadeus Hartmann from Stuttgart (2005, DVD)
- Vortex Temporum by Gerard Grisey
- works by Salvatore Sciarrino with Ensemble Recherché
- Prometeo by Luigi Nono
- Neither by Morton Feldman
- Schubert: Symphony No. 9 / Rachmaninov: Symphony No. 2, with Orchestre National Bordeaux Aquitaine
- Beethoven: Piano Concertos No. 1 and No. 2 with Shani Diluka and Orchestra National Bordeaux Aquitaine
- De Foort: The Time of Our Singing
- Heggie: Intelligence
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ Kerry Peters (2004-09-14). "University School feeling good at 50". The Trinidad Guardian. Retrieved 2009-03-29.
- ^ a b Colin Eatock (2008-06-22). "Kwame Ryan". Opera Canada. ISSN 0030-3577. Retrieved 2009-03-29.
- ^ Charles Ward (2008-04-02). "Ryan makes Houston debut". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved 2011-01-06.
- ^ Charlotte Higgins (2004-08-10). "Black conductor fears he will remain exception". The Guardian. Retrieved 2009-03-29.
- ^ "Nommé directeur artistique et musical de l'Orchestre National Bordeaux Aquitaine, Paul Daniel prendra ses fonctions en septembre 2013" (PDF) (Press release). Orchestre National Bordeaux Aquitaine. 15 July 2012. Archived from the original (PDF) on 9 July 2013. Retrieved 2012-07-19.
- ^ Thierry Hillériteau (2010-12-14). "Les jeunes et Kwamé Ryan". Le Figaro. Retrieved 2012-07-19.
- ^ "Announcing Kwamé Ryan as the Charlotte Symphony's Next Music Director" (Press release). Charlotte Symphony Orchestra. 12 December 2023. Retrieved 2023-12-10.
- ^ Adam Bell (2023-12-12). "Charlotte Symphony makes history, names a Black conductor as its new music director". Charlotte Observer. Retrieved 2023-12-12.
External links
[edit]| International | |
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| National | |
| Artists | |
| People | |
| Other | |
- 1970 births
- Canadian male conductors (music)
- Living people
- People educated at Oakham School
- Alumni of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge
- Canadian people of Trinidad and Tobago descent
- Musicians from Toronto
- University of Tübingen alumni
- 21st-century Canadian conductors (music)
- 21st-century Canadian male musicians
- 20th-century Canadian conductors (music)
- 20th-century Canadian male musicians
- Music directors of the Orchestre National Bordeaux Aquitaine