With performances and broadcasts around the world and a growing discography, 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 Cleveland Orchestra, the Windsor Symphony, Esprit 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.
The 2007/08 season saw no fewer than six world premieres, including works for the Vancouver Symphony, Toronto Symphony 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 is Composer Advisor for Music Toronto, and Composer Laureate of the Vancouver Symphony, after serving as the VSO's Composer-in-Residence from 2002 to 2007. He was an Affiliate Composer with the Toronto Symphony from 2000 to 2002.
Jeffrey Ryan is a graduate of Wilfrid Laurier University, where he received the gold medal in music, and of the University of Toronto. He holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from The Cleveland Institute of Music, where he studied with the distinguished composer Donald Erb. Previous teachers include Alexina Louie, Lothar Klein, Mariano Etkin, Boyd McDonald, and Owen Underhill.