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Welcome to Planet MusicTony Ryan is a conductor, composer, educator and reviewer
based in Christchurch, New Zealand |
Interview recorded on 29 December 2022
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Latest News
Resonance Ensemble's next concert Sweet Sorrow features music inspired by Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet on 30 November (See below) - BOOK NOW
Resonance Ensemble's concert on 14 September - Wayfarers was a hugely enjoyable event with music by Mozart, Mendelssohn and Mahler You can watch Resonance Ensemble's Music for Matariki concert on YouTube. This concert, on 15 June, featured works by New Zealand composers and included Tony's own Saxophone Concerto with soprano saxophone soloist Alice Morgan, as well as music by John Ritchie, Anthony Ritchie and Claire Cowan. Resonance Ensemble's concert on 6 April - Waifs & Strays with music by Rossini, Punto, Bissill and Prokofiev was a notable success with French Horn soloist Alex Morton giving a brilliantly flamboyant performance of Giovanni Punto's Horn Concerto No. 5 and Richard Bissill's Fat Belly Blues. Prokofiev's Symphony No. 7 was a real find and the orchestra rose magnificently to its many challenges. Last November, Resonance Ensemble's Rebellious Russians concert - Music by Shostakovich, Stravinsky, Prokofiev and Borodin was another innovative programme with pianist Gabriel Baird joining the orchestra for a stunning performance of Shostakovich's Piano Concerto No. 2. The latest Troubleshooter is prompted by this year's Shostakovich anniversary and talks about musical 'blind spots'. |
Resonance Ensemble
Sweet Sorrow
Music inspired by Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet
Tchaikovsky, Prokofiev, Bernstein, Rota, Hextall, Gounod
On 30 November Resonance Ensemble conducted by Tony Ryan will present a concert of musical works inspired by Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. Many composers have found inspiration in this timeless love story and its tragic consequences.
Tchaikovsky’s Fantasy Overture Romeo and Juliet is possibly the best-known musical masterpiece derived from Shakespeare’s great tragedy. With its dramatic fight music and heart-melting love theme, the overture’s colourful orchestration and lyrical melodic richness make it one of Tchaikovsky’s best-loved orchestral works and an obvious first choice for this programme.
Described by many as the greatest ballet score ever written, Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet is one of the composer’s most powerful and moving compositions. The suites that Prokofiev extracted from the score make superb concert pieces and the seven movements of Suite No. 2 in this concert contain some of Prokofiev’s most original and inventive music.
West Side Story remains one of Broadway’s most successful shows. Its modern take on Romeo and Juliet demonstrates Shakespeare’s universal relevance across generations and centuries. Resonance Ensemble will include an orchestral selection of four favourite extracts from Bernstein’s masterly score, which later had a profound influence on the youthful energy of the street fight scenes in Zefferelli’s famous 1968 film of Shakespeare’s play. Resonance Ensemble’s programme includes Nino Rota’s poignant love theme A Time for Us, from the movie, which became a popular hit at the time.
Perhaps every love story brings Shakespeare’s ill-fated lovers to mind. Also included in this concert, Christchurch composer Pieta Hextall’s Wedding Mixtape was written at the time of her brother’s wedding to celebrate a real-life love story. Saxophonist Lana Law brings her virtuoso skills as soloist to this piece.
Charles Gounod’s Romeo and Juliet is the most well-known and inspired of several operas derived from Romeo and Juliet. From Gounod’s masterpiece, soprano Emily-Jane Stockman joins Resonance Ensemble to sing Je Veux Vivre where Juliet tells her parents that she doesn’t want to listen to their plans for her to marry – she wants to live and be free.
Timeless and soul-stirring themes of love and humanity bring Resonance Ensemble’s 2025 Season to a close with music that will melt your heart – what better way to end the musical year?
3pm, Sunday 30 November at The Piano
(156 Armagh Street, Christchurch)
BOOK NOW
Sweet Sorrow
Music inspired by Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet
Tchaikovsky, Prokofiev, Bernstein, Rota, Hextall, Gounod
On 30 November Resonance Ensemble conducted by Tony Ryan will present a concert of musical works inspired by Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. Many composers have found inspiration in this timeless love story and its tragic consequences.
Tchaikovsky’s Fantasy Overture Romeo and Juliet is possibly the best-known musical masterpiece derived from Shakespeare’s great tragedy. With its dramatic fight music and heart-melting love theme, the overture’s colourful orchestration and lyrical melodic richness make it one of Tchaikovsky’s best-loved orchestral works and an obvious first choice for this programme.
Described by many as the greatest ballet score ever written, Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet is one of the composer’s most powerful and moving compositions. The suites that Prokofiev extracted from the score make superb concert pieces and the seven movements of Suite No. 2 in this concert contain some of Prokofiev’s most original and inventive music.
West Side Story remains one of Broadway’s most successful shows. Its modern take on Romeo and Juliet demonstrates Shakespeare’s universal relevance across generations and centuries. Resonance Ensemble will include an orchestral selection of four favourite extracts from Bernstein’s masterly score, which later had a profound influence on the youthful energy of the street fight scenes in Zefferelli’s famous 1968 film of Shakespeare’s play. Resonance Ensemble’s programme includes Nino Rota’s poignant love theme A Time for Us, from the movie, which became a popular hit at the time.
Perhaps every love story brings Shakespeare’s ill-fated lovers to mind. Also included in this concert, Christchurch composer Pieta Hextall’s Wedding Mixtape was written at the time of her brother’s wedding to celebrate a real-life love story. Saxophonist Lana Law brings her virtuoso skills as soloist to this piece.
Charles Gounod’s Romeo and Juliet is the most well-known and inspired of several operas derived from Romeo and Juliet. From Gounod’s masterpiece, soprano Emily-Jane Stockman joins Resonance Ensemble to sing Je Veux Vivre where Juliet tells her parents that she doesn’t want to listen to their plans for her to marry – she wants to live and be free.
Timeless and soul-stirring themes of love and humanity bring Resonance Ensemble’s 2025 Season to a close with music that will melt your heart – what better way to end the musical year?
3pm, Sunday 30 November at The Piano
(156 Armagh Street, Christchurch)
BOOK NOW
Recent Concerts and Events
- 14 September 2025: Resonance Ensemble presented Wayfarers. Music by Mozart, Mendelssohn and Mahler.
- 26 July 2025 CSM Sinfonia performed music by Chabrier, Lloyd Webber and J.Strauss II at the Christchurch Town Hall
- 15 June 2025: Resonance Ensemble presented Music for Matariki. Music by New Zealand composers
- 3 May 2025: CSM Sinfonia performed a programme of music by Bizet, Mussorgsky and Satie
- 6 April 2025: Resonance Ensemble presented Waifs & Strays. Music by Rossini, Punto, Bissill and Prokofiev.
- 21 November 2024: Resonance Ensemble presented Rebellious Russians. Music by Shostakovich, Stravinsky and Borodin.
- 22 September 2024: Resonance Ensemble presented Bohemian Rhapsody. Music by Dvořák, Suk and Dohnányi.
- 17 August 2024: The CSM Sinfonia orchestra performed music by Ryan, Stravinsky and Rossini.
- 30 June 2024: Resonance Ensemble presented Celebrating Matariki. Music by a cluster of New Zealand composers.
- 16 March 2024: The CSM Sinfonia orchestra performed music by Bernstein and Dvořāk.
- 24 March 2024: Resonance Ensemble presented Spirit of the Land. Music by Sibelius, Smetana and Weber.
- 26 March 2024: Illustrated talk at the Christchurch Art Gallery Auditorium entitled Planet Opera - A Parallel Universe
- Tony's latest reviews can be found on Theatreview, and The Press (Stuff)
Pre-concert rehearsal for Resonance Ensemble's Wayfarers programme
Alice Morgan, soloist in Tony's Saxophone Concerto, with Resonance Ensemble on 15 June 2025
Below: Sinfonia performs at the Christchurch Town Hall, 26 July 2025
Below: Sinfonia presents a programme of music by Bizet, Mussorgsky and Satie on 3 May 2025
Below: Resonance Ensemble prepares for Waifs & Strays, 6 April 2025, at The Piano
Below: 2024 Festival Symphony Orchestra in the Christchurch Town Hall
Below: Resonance Ensemble rehearses their Matariki concert of New Zealand Composers, 30 June 2024. You can watch this concert on YouTube
Below: Resonance Ensemble's Spirit of the Land Dress Rehearsal, 24 March 2024
Below: Resonance Ensemble's Shall We Dance? Concert and Dress Rehearsal, 26 November 2023
Below: Conducting CSM Sinfonia's Flashmob at Northlands Shopping Centre on 4 November 2023
Below: Sinfonia warms up before their concert at The Charles Luney Auditiorium on 19 August 2023
Below: Resonance Ensemble warms up before their Danzón concert at The Piano on 25 June 2023, to a full house!
Below: Resonance Ensemble rehearses with saxophone soloist Mark Walton for their Danzón concert at The Piano
Below: Resonance Ensemble presented A Tuba Comes to Town on 4 December 2022 at The Piano in Christchurch.
The highlight of this programme was the premiere of Tony's Tuba Concerto
with soloist Thomas Allely, Principal Tuba of the Queensland Symphony Orchestra
The highlight of this programme was the premiere of Tony's Tuba Concerto
with soloist Thomas Allely, Principal Tuba of the Queensland Symphony Orchestra
Below: A few pictures from CSM’s final event for 2022
Tony conducts the CSM Intermediate Symphony Orchestra and Sinfonia in music from the fifteenth century to the twenty first
Tony conducts the CSM Intermediate Symphony Orchestra and Sinfonia in music from the fifteenth century to the twenty first
Below: Tony conducts the Christchurch Schools' Music Festival Symphony Orchestra
for its hugely successful performances at the Christchurch Town Hall on 1-4 November 2022
for its hugely successful performances at the Christchurch Town Hall on 1-4 November 2022
Below: Tony's CSM Sinfonia presented a Flashmob at two Christchurch Shopping Centres (Merivale and Northlands) on 3 September 2022
