With a growing discography, and performances and broadcasts around the world, Jeffrey Ryan has emerged as one of Canada's leading composers. His varied catalogue ranges from opera, art song, and choral music to chamber ensemble and orchestral works, including commissions for the Windsor Symphony, Esprit Orchestra, the Cleveland Orchestra, Tapestry New Opera Works, the Arditti Quartet, and Elektra Women's Choir. Repeat performances have been presented by such ensembles as the Montreal Symphony, the Winnipeg Symphony, the Victoria Symphony, the Canadian Chamber Choir, the Florida Orchestra, and the South Dakota Symphony, as well as numerous art song teams and chamber ensembles.
Much in demand as a composer, the 2007/08 season saw no fewer than six world premieres, including works for the Vancouver and Toronto Symphonies and the Gryphon Trio, Standing Wave, musica intima, and Tiresias.
Twice nominated for Classical Composition of the Year Juno awards (Quantum Mechanics in 2008 and Pangaea in 2005, the latter recorded by the Thunder Bay Symphony), his works have also been recorded by the Bowling Green Philharmonia (Ophélie), the Hannaford Street Silver Band (She Threw It Down, Anathema), and the Penderecki Quartet (String Quartet #3).
Based in Vancouver, Ryan was the Vancouver Symphony's Composer-in-Residence from 2002 to 2007, after two seasons as an Affiliate Composer with the Toronto Symphony. Since 1997, he has been Composer Advisor for Music Toronto. Ryan has been a featured composer with various festivals in Canada and the United States, including Soundstreams Canada's Encounters series, the Winnipeg Symphony New Music Festival, Brandon New Music, the Strings of the Future festival, and Bowling Green State University's New Music and Art Festival.
Born in Toronto and raised in Fergus, Ontario, Jeffrey Ryan fled the School of Business and Economics at Wilfrid Laurier University to join the Faculty of Music, from which he graduated with an Honours Bachelor of Music degree and the gold medal in music. After earning a Master's degree in composition from the University of Toronto, he went on to receive his Doctor of Musical Arts degree in composition from The Cleveland Institute of Music, where he studied with Donald Erb. Previous teachers include Alexina Louie, Lothar Klein, Mariano Etkin, Boyd McDonald, and Owen Underhill. He is an Associate Composer with the Canadian Music Centre.