Ryan McAdams - Orchestral Conductor

Twenty-eight year old conductor Ryan McAdams is quickly establishing himself as one of the most exciting and versatile conductors of his generation. His work as the 15th Music Director of the New York Youth Symphony has been hailed as "electrifying," "breathless" and "essential" by the New York Times. Former Music Directors of the NYYS include Leonard Slatkin, Myung Whun-Chung, David Alan Miller, and Miguel Harth-Bedoya. A Fulbright scholar, he previously served as Apprentice Conductor of the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic, assisting then-Chief Conductor Alan Gilbert. He is first-ever recipient of the Sir Georg Solti Emerging Conductor Award, a major grant given by the Solti Foundation in Chicago.

Mr. McAdams made his subscription European debut in Februrary, 2010 with the orchestra of the Maggio Musicale in Florence, and was immediately reinvited for subscription concerts in 2012. He returns to Italy in 2011 for concerts with the Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale RAI. He makes his Eastern European debut with the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, Julian Rachlin, and Mischa Maisky in Dubrovnik in September, 2010.

Highlights of the 2009-2010 season include appearances with the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, New York City Opera, Princeton Symphony, and the Tanglewood Music Festival, in addition to his three Carnegie Hall performances with the NYYS. His recent American opera debut with New York City Opera led to immediate re-engagements. Recent performances include appearances with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Columbus Symphony Orchestra, Princeton Symphony, Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, Aspen Music Festival, the Wordless Music Series, New Jersey Symphony, Glimmerglass Opera, Rutgers University, and the Juilliard FOCUS! Festival. In 2007, he was invited by Lorin Maazel to create the post of Apprentice Conductor for the Chateauville Foundation at the Maazel Estate in Virginia, assisting Maestro Maazel on a production of Britten's "The Rape of Lucretia."

This past summer, at the invitation of James Levine and the Tanglewood Festival, he served as one of Tanglewood's Conducting Fellows. Highlights included a performance of Stravinsky's Concerto for Piano and Wind Instruments with Peter Serkin, a performance of John Zorn's violin concerto "Contes de Fees," the recording of which will be commercially released by the composer, and assisting Maestro Levine on a performance of Act III of Wagner's "Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg."

In 2008, he served as the Assistant Conductor of the Aspen Music Festival. In 2005 and 2006, he attended the Aspen Music Festival as an Academy Conductor, studying with David Zinman and Murry Sidlin. Nominated by both Maestro Zinman and Glimmerglass Opera, he became the first recipient of the Glimmerglass-Aspen Prize for Opera Conducting. As a result of the prize, Mr. McAdams served as Assistant Conductor for Glimmerglass Opera's 2007 season.

A new music advocate, Mr. McAdams premieres a new work by a major young composer on every concert with the NYYS through the award-winning First Music commissioning project. He has premiered over thirty works for the Juilliard Composers Concert series and the New York City Ballet, served as Assistant Conductor for the American Composers Orchestra at Carnegie Hall, and is a regular performer on the New York new music scene.

A gifted speaker and educator, he has been asked to give pre-concert lectures and interviews about music and performance by New York City Opera, Glimmerglass Opera, the New York Youth Symphony, the Juilliard School, and the Aspen Music Festival.

A graduate of the Juilliard conducting program, Ryan McAdams has worked with all of the Juilliard orchestral ensembles, and served as a graduate-level Aural Skills instructor. Mr. McAdams was the first Master's degree candidate accepted into Juilliard by James DePreist, and is a recipient of the Bruno Walter Memorial Scholarship.

Ryan McAdams is a native of St. Louis. He received his M.M. in Orchestral Conducting from the Juilliard School in 2006, and a B.M. in Piano Performance from Indiana University in 2004, where he studied with Karen Shaw.

Mr. McAdams is represented exclusively by William G. Guerri at Columbia Artists, LLC (CAMI). For contact information, please see "Contact."