"[Equilateral] proved a brilliant pairing with Strauss as well as with the Holst to follow. [Its] twenty-five minutes and three movements…inventively engage with a thoroughly contemporary sound palette, combining both a rigourously intellectual concept with a deeply emotional one.

The first movement's rushy rhythms, sophisticated and urbane conjure up Gershwin on steroids, as it were, with bold anti-melodic galloping and a strong percussive basis morphing, in the second movement, into considerably more emotional and introspective territory.

Tension and even darkness hover, as a letter from Rimbaud and words from the Kaddish (sung by the orchestra) offer glimpses backward as well as straightforward melody, recalling nineteenth-century forms. The brief finale, jazzy and chirpy, seems driven by (im)pulse.

This was a triumphant performance of Ryan's exciting and accessible work…It would be a pleasure to hear it again…"

J H Stape, reviewVancouver

"Ryan's Equilateral…contains far more substance than Ryan owns up to in his modest program notes. I heard a near-quotation of Messiaen's Quartet for the End of Time in Equilateral's opening measures; the finale also owed much to Stravinsky and Ravel. Yet the piece has a strong personal voice. The densely scored, whirlwind first movement, called "Breathless," was full of menace and instability, created in part by a feeling of uncontrolled repetition, and articulated by imaginative use of percussion. Its abrupt ending was more like the slamming of a door, or switching off of a television set, than a resolution. The second movement, called "Points of Contact," rose out of that unresolved dark energy, and was the heart of the piece.The instrumentalists "speak" the rhythm of two texts: a poem by Rimbaud and the Jewish mourners' Kaddish.

The effect was moving, and again inflected percussion effects that were both disturbing and alluring…The most powerful effect came when the orchestra members sang wordlessly.

The Gryphon Trio played the demanding solo parts superbly…"

Tamara Bernstein, Globe & Mail