RYAN MCADAMS
CONDUCTOR
"Ryan McAdams was simply astounding; look out for his name to appear much more often in the future." - Ionarts.com
Ryan McAdams has established himself as one of the most exciting and versatile conductors of his generation. Equally prized in symphonic, operatic, and contemporary repertoire, he made a highly successful subscription European debut in February, 2010 with the orchestra of the Maggio Musicale in Florence, where he has returned three times in the past three years. He made his Eastern European debut with the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, Julian Rachlin, and Mischa Maisky in Dubrovnik in September, 2010. His subscription debut with the Israel Philharmonic, replacing an indisposed Raphael Fruhbeck de Burgos, was hailed as "extraordinary," "masterful," and "immense[ly] dramatic" by the Jerusalem Post; a live recording of the concert was released by the IPO on the Helicon Classics label. He has returned to the Israel Philharmonic twice since, most recently in a run of performances featuring concerti with cellist Alisa Weilerstein and Orff's "Carmina Burana." A Fulbright scholar, he previously served as Apprentice Conductor of the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic, assisting then-Chief Conductor Alan Gilbert. Mr. McAdams is the first-ever recipient of the Sir Georg Solti Emerging Conductor Award.
In the 2021-22 season, Ryan makes his debuts with the Orchestre national d'Île-de-France in Paris at the Philharmonie, BBC Philharmonic, Belgian National Orchestra, and the orchestra of the Teatro Communale in Bologna, and returns to I Pomeriggi Musicali in Milan, Orchestra Sinfonica Siciliana in Palermo, Orchestra della Toscana (in a tour of Tuscany), the Crash Ensemble at the New Music Dublin Festival, and multiple appearances
with the Sinfonica Nazionalle della RAI in Turin. He leads "Tosca" for Lyric Opera of Kansas City and the premiere of Donnacha Dennehy's opera "The First Child" for Irish National Opera. Notable recent appearances include subscription concerts with the Phoenix Symphony (including a collaboration with Wynton Marsalis and the Lincoln Center Jazz), Borusan Istanbul Philharmonic Orchestra, Moscow State Philharmonic, Lirico Sinfonica Petruzzelli di Bari, Orchestra Filarmonica Salernitana Orchestra Giuseppe Verdi at the Ravello Festival, Kansas City Symphony, Louisiana Philharmonic, Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale della RAI (including an all-Beethoven tour of Southern Italy), and contemporary music projects with Crash Ensemble, Wordless Music Orchestra, and the Juilliard School. He has lead "Carmen" and "Les pêcheurs de perles" with both the Teatro Regio Torino and the Maggio Musicale, "Le nozze di Figaro" and "Madama Butterfly" with the Lyric Opera of Kansas City, "Candide" and "Owen Wingrave" with the Opera National de Lorraine, "Il barbiere di Siviglia" with Opera Theatre of St. Louis, and Donnacha Dennehy's "The Second Violinist" for Irish National Opera in London at the Barbican, Dublin, and Amsterdam, and was due to bring it to the Park Avenue Armory in New York City (cancelled due to COVID).
McAdams has also appeared with the Israel Philharmonic, National Symphony in Washington DC, Vancouver Symphony, Santa Fe Symphony, Louisville Orchestra, Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Orchestre symphonique et lyrique de Nancy, Columbus Symphony, Princeton Symphony, Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, L'Orchestra de Chambre de Geneve, Juilliard Opera Center, Westchester Philharmonic, New York City Opera, Talea Ensemble, New York City Ballet, Sinfonica Nazionale della RAI, Indianapolis Symphony, CityMusic Cleveland, Tanglewood Music Festival, Aspen Music Festival, New Jersey Symphony, Glimmerglass Opera, and the Juilliard FOCUS! Festival.
A contemporary music advocate, Mr. McAdams is the Principal Conductor of Crash Ensemble, Ireland's leading contemporary music ensemble. He was the conductor for Elliott Carter's 103rd Birthday Celebration at the 92Y with Fred Sherry and Nicholas Phan - a concert that was named one of the Best Classical Music Events of 2011 by Anthony Tommasini in the New York Times. Recent contemporary music projects include premiering Jonathan Dawe's new opera "Cracked Orlando" with Anthony Roth Costanzo at the Italian Academy at Columbia University, and leading the world premiere of William Basinski's "The Disintegration Loops" with the Wordless Music Orchestra at the Temple of Dendur in the Metropolitan Museum for the 10th Anniversary of Sept. 11th - a concert broadcast worldwide on National Public Radio. He has premiered over thirty works for the Juilliard Composers Concert series and the New York City Ballet, and served as Assistant Conductor for the American premiere and recording of John Adams' "Doctor Atomic Symphony" with the St. Louis Symphony.
In 2005 and 2006, he attended the Aspen Music Festival as an Academy Conductor, studying with David Zinman. Nominated by both Maestro Zinman and Glimmerglass Opera, he became the first recipient of the Glimmerglass-Aspen Prize for Opera Conducting. 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." In 2009, at the invitation of James Levine and the Tanglewood Festival, he served as one of Tanglewood's Conducting Fellows. He was invited back to Tanglewood to conduct the BUTI Orchestra in the Summer of 2013. In 2008, he served as the Assistant Conductor of the Aspen Music Festival. McAdams served as Music Director of the New York Youth Symphony from 2007-2012, winning multiple ASCAP awards for innovative programming, and garnering major critical acclaim.
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. For contact information, please see "Contact."
Ryan McAdams resides in Brighton, UK, with his wife, dancer/performer Laura Careless, and their son Owain.