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Welcome to Planet MusicTony Ryan is a conductor, composer, educator and reviewer
based in Christchurch, New Zealand |
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Interview recorded on 30 December 2022
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Tony's Latest NewsResonance Ensemble's final 2022 concert A Tuba Comes to Town on 4 December included Tony's Tuba Concerto; and what an exciting and spectacular performance it received from both the orchesta and tuba soloist Thomas Allely. Watch the performance on Tony's YouTube channel. And listen to the composer Tony Ryan and soloist Thomas Allely discuss the coming first performance of the concerto on RNZ National.
Two weeks before the Resonance Ensemble concert, Tony conducted the CSM Sinfonia in a concert featuring music by Tchaikovsky and Saint-Saëns, then, on 10 December he conducted The Christchurch School of Music's Intermediate Symphony Orchestra in a programme of works by John Emeleus, Ippolitov-Ivanov, Tchaikovsky and John Wiliams, followed by the CSM Sinfonia in music by Bizet and Tchaikovsky as well as his own Linwood March. My 2022 Recording of the Year is the latest topic on Tony's blog in Troubleshooter. A recorded performance that, although it has received no awards, is his pick of everything he's listened to in the last twelve months. Tony's Sinfonia orchestra from the Christchurch School of Music performed a Flashmob event at two large shopping malls in early September, see the video on YouTube. In April they performed music by Elgar, Mussorgsky and his own Linwood March at a performance in the Christchurch Town Hall. The concert was video recorded and can be found on YouTube. The Sinfonia segment starts at the 56.30 time point. |
A Tuba Comes to Town
Third Time Lucky!
Thomas Allely, principal tuba of the Queensland Symphony Orchestra, travelled from Brisbane specially to play with Christchurch’s excellent and innovative local orchestra Resonance Ensemble in the première of Tony Ryan’s newly revised Tuba Concerto. Ryan was also the conductor of December’s concert which was Resonance Ensemble’s third shot at scheduling the Tuba Concerto after both previous attempts had to be cancelled because of covid-related trans-Tasman travel restrictions.
The concerto was originally written for Thomas while he was still a school student in Christchurch, and which he played with the NZ Secondary Schools Symphony Orchestra in Auckland. Tony describes the revision of his concerto as an almost complete re-write which recognises the exceptionally advanced virtuoso and musical abilities of this now widely-experienced soloist, and the talented players of the Resonance Ensemble orchestra.
Also on the programme was Otto Nicolai’s colourful and vivacious Overture to his Shakespearian opera The Merry Wives of Windsor, and two well-known works by Scandinavian composers: Norwegian composer Edvard Grieg’s Holberg Suite showcased Resonance Ensemble’s superb string section, while, to end the programme, Sibelius’s tone poem Finlandia is not only one of his finest works, but a gloriously patriotic and emotional declaration of his homeland’s national culture in the face of Russian oppression.
All of these works came vividly to life with Resonance Ensemble’s usual flair and dynamism before a large and enthusiastic audience in the stunning acoustic of The Piano on Sunday 4 December.
Third Time Lucky!
Thomas Allely, principal tuba of the Queensland Symphony Orchestra, travelled from Brisbane specially to play with Christchurch’s excellent and innovative local orchestra Resonance Ensemble in the première of Tony Ryan’s newly revised Tuba Concerto. Ryan was also the conductor of December’s concert which was Resonance Ensemble’s third shot at scheduling the Tuba Concerto after both previous attempts had to be cancelled because of covid-related trans-Tasman travel restrictions.
The concerto was originally written for Thomas while he was still a school student in Christchurch, and which he played with the NZ Secondary Schools Symphony Orchestra in Auckland. Tony describes the revision of his concerto as an almost complete re-write which recognises the exceptionally advanced virtuoso and musical abilities of this now widely-experienced soloist, and the talented players of the Resonance Ensemble orchestra.
Also on the programme was Otto Nicolai’s colourful and vivacious Overture to his Shakespearian opera The Merry Wives of Windsor, and two well-known works by Scandinavian composers: Norwegian composer Edvard Grieg’s Holberg Suite showcased Resonance Ensemble’s superb string section, while, to end the programme, Sibelius’s tone poem Finlandia is not only one of his finest works, but a gloriously patriotic and emotional declaration of his homeland’s national culture in the face of Russian oppression.
All of these works came vividly to life with Resonance Ensemble’s usual flair and dynamism before a large and enthusiastic audience in the stunning acoustic of The Piano on Sunday 4 December.
- 4 December: Tony conducted Resonance Ensemble in A Tuba Comes to Town (music by Nicolai, Grieg, Sibelius and Ryan)
- 10 Dec: Tony's Sinfonia orchestra ended a busy year with a performance of his Linwood March along with music by Tchaikovsky & Bizet
- 19 November: Tony conducted his CSM Sinfonia Orchestra in music by Tchaikovsky and Saint-Saëns
- 1 - 4 November: Tony conducted the Chch Schools Festival Symphony Orchestra at the Christchurch Town Hall (Photos below)
- 25 Sept: Tony conducted Resonance Ensemble in Homelands (music by Britten, Rossini, Grieg and Smetana) at The Piano
- 3 Sept: The CSM Sinfonia presented a Flashmob event at two large Christchurch shopping malls on 3 September
- 26 June: Tony conducted Resonance Ensemble in Myths and Legends (music by Dvořák and Prokofiev) at The Piano
- In April Tony conducted CSM Sinfonia at the Christchurch Town Hall in his Linwood March and Elgar's Pomp & Circumstance March
- On 4 March 2022 Tony presented his ideas on Politics in Music to the U3A Arts Centre group
- Tony's latest reviews can be found on Theatreview, The Press (Stuff) and on the Christopher's Classics website
Below: Resonance Ensemble presented A Tuba Comes to Town on 4 December 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
