RYAN'S BIO:

Twenty-four-year-old award-winning pianist Ryan MacEvoy McCullough is beginning to make his mark as an artist of great versatility and musical fervor. Born in Boston and raised near the coastal redwoods of northern California, he has developed a diverse career as recitalist, concerto soloist, vocal and instrumental chamber musician, as well as frequent collaborator with established and up-and-coming composers in the creation of new repertoire for the piano. He has received critical acclaim for his interpretations of works ranging from standard repertoire to the newly-composed. In a performance of Chopin, “his virtuosity was evident and understated, his playing projected a warmth... that conjured the humanity of Artur Rubinstein,” (Eli Newberger, The Boston Musical Intelligencer) and in a performance of contemporary music, his playing was described as having “found a perfect balance between the gently shimmering and the more brittle, extroverted strands... and left you eager to hear the rest.” (Allan Kozinn, NY Times)

His concerto engagements have included Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue and Concerto in F with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Beethoven's 4th piano concerto with the Colburn Conservatory Orchestra, Beethoven's 5th with the World Festival Orchestra, and the west coast premiere of Carter Pann's Concerto Logic with the Orange County Wind Symphony. 2011-2012 concerto engagements will include Chopin's 1st concerto with the Inland Valley Symphony, Rachmaninov's 3rd concerto with the Eureka Symphony, and Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue with the Sarasota Symphony. Mr. McCullough has given solo recitals at the International Chopin Festival in Nohant, France, the Eli Broad Stage Instrumental series in Santa Monica, CA, the Token Creek Chamber Music Festival at the summer home of composer John Harbison, and UNESCO Hall in Paris, France. Upcoming recitals include a performance of John Harbison's piano sonatas at the Canadian Opera Company's Richard Bradshaw auditorium in Toronto, and the last three Beethoven sonatas in Bulgaria Hall for the SM&RT Concerts series in Sofia, Bulgaria.

In addition to concerto and recital engagements, Mr. McCullough has performed in collaboration with the Mark Morris Dance Group and eighth blackbird, as well as in numerous vocal, chamber, and contemporary music ensembles settings at the Tanglewood Music Center. In fall of 2011, he was awarded the Tanglewood Music Center's Henri Kohn Memorial Award for musical achievement, and was subsequently invited back for a third consecutive summer as one of their instrumental piano fellows. He has won prizes from the Milosz Magin Piano Competition, World Piano Competition, Virginia Waring International Piano Competition, and Bronislaw Kaper awards, and was recipient of the 2011 Outstanding Graduate Award from the University of Southern California's Thornton School of Music.

He has worked closely with composers John Harbison, Andrew McPherson, Dante De Silva and Carter Pann, and has commissioned or been dedicatee of works from James Primosch, John Liberatore, Shawn Allison, Dante De Silva, and Carter Pann. In 2008, Mr. McCullough released a CD of solo piano music by 20th century Polish-French composer Miłosz Magin on the Polish label Acte Prealable. This recording was praised in the Polish music journal Ruch Muzyczny as displaying “exceptional skill and precision combined with intelligence and sense of design... [slowing] for parts of reflection and very evocative Polish reverie.” In early 2012, Mr. McCullough will release a recording on Innova Records of composer Andrew McPherson's Secrets of Antikythera, a work written for the Magnetic Resonator Piano, an electro-acoustic instrument designed and built by the composer to augment the sounds of a standard concert grand piano.

Mr. McCullough holds his undergraduate and masters degrees from Humboldt State University and the University of Southern California, as well as artist diplomas from the Colburn Conservatory and the Glenn Gould School. His primary teachers have been Dr. Deborah Clasquin and John Perry, in addition to studies with Emanuel Ax, Stephen Drury, Leon Fleisher, and Peter Serkin. Mr. McCullough currently resides in Toronto.

Updated NOVEMBER 2011