Ryan Williams is an Australian recorder player, improviser, interdisciplinary-performance maker & arts producer.
“Ryan Williams . . . he’s described as the Jimi Hendrix of the recorder“ Brian Wise, Off The Record, Three Triple R 102.7FM
“Ryan’s music is like magic techno“ audience member, Fleecey in the yard
“Williams and duo partner Matthew Horsley …demonstrating the gold that can often result from unexpected collaborations.“ ++++½ Megan Steller, The Age
contact: ryanwilliamsrecorders@live.com
I acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of the lands on which I live, create & collaborate. I pay my respects to the Kulin Nation, and all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Elders past and present. Sovereignty was never ceded. Always was and always will be Aboriginal Land.
:: MAJOR PROJECTS, BIOGRAPHY, & DISCOGRAPHY LISTED BELOW ::
CROISSANTS & WHISKEY – https://croissantsandwhiskey.com/
UNKNOWN MIRRORS – https://unknownmirrors.bandcamp.com/releases
HORSLEY & WILLIAMS DUO – http://horsleywilliamsduo.wordpress.com/
ROGUE THREE – https://roguethreetrio.bandcamp.com/
WANDERINGS – DEBUT SOLO ALBUM (2014)
THE RECORDER CO-OP & MELBOURNE RECORDER ACADEMY – https://www.melbournerecorderacademy.org/
GEORGE STREET – https://georgestreet.bandcamp.com/album/lone-black-dog
duo windborne
OKADA YASUTAKA collaboration
KAMOGAWA FUKUJIN TAIKO – https://www.facebook.com/fukujin459/
ELISION ENSEMBLE – http://www.elision.org.au/
ANJA & ZLATNA – http://anjaizlatna.com/
FOREST COLLECTIVE – http://www.forestcollective.com.au/
SNUFF PUPPETS – https://snuffpuppets.com/
BROKEN LANDSCAPE (Orpheus Music composition commission 2019)
RECORDER WORKSHOPS
***************************************BIOGRAPHY*****************************************
Ryan Williams (b.1988) is a recorder & ocarina player, improviser, interdisciplinary performance maker & arts producer. His creative practice focuses on composing and improvising new music, and creating exploratory & transdisciplinary projects through skill-sharing collaborations with artists and communities. Ryan performs and creates within improvisatory & exploratory music, site-specific/installation contexts, traditional music from Eastern Europe, Japan, Ireland and the U.S, western classical music & jazz, popular folk music, and video game music. His focus on exploratory & transdisciplinary performance has led to distinct creative projects that balance collaboration between artists from different disciplines, in a skill-sharing environment, to create outcomes in which artists develop a shared performance practice.
Ryan is currently a PhD candidate, where he is developing works that focus on the recorder in free improvisation and interdisciplinary performance. He co-directs a multitude of ensembles and through these projects has released over ten albums that cross numerous musical genres. He is the recipient of several international and national artistic grants, and has performed at major Australian and international festivals including Falls Festival, Setouchi Triennale, Peninsula Summer Music Festival, Antwerp Fringe Festival, Woodford Folk Festival, Four Winds Festival & Tilde New Music Festival. He regularly performs with leading arts companies from around Australia, including the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, ELISION Ensemble & Snuff Puppets, teaches recorder and chamber music at the Sir Zelman Cowen School of Music and Performance – Monash University, and co-directs the Melbourne Recorder Academy. He has a strong connection to Japan through regular artistic collaborations with communities and musicians, and he continues to develop new cultural links between Australia and Japan through leading international projects and artistic curation. Ryan is committed to creating artistic opportunities, and continues to achieve this through curating & producing arts projects, commissioning artists, collaborating with communities, and teaching.
*************************************DISCOGRAPHY****************************************
New Unknown Mirrors album – Forthcoming
New Rogue Three album – Forthcoming
[Extinct Drones] Horsley & Williams Duo – Forthcoming
2020 [Lone Black Dog] George Street
2019 [Your Ten Is My Twelve] Unknown Mirrors
2019 [Eucalypt Apocalypse] Rogue Three
2018 [No Meat On Bumblebees] Rogue Three
2016 [Winter Winds] George Street
2015 [Hytte] George Street
2014 [Wanderings] debut solo album
2013 [Long Distance EP] Flightless Bird
2013 [Everybody] Snuff Puppets – Unreleased
2013 [Allestree] Tierra
2011 [Dinner On Wednesday] – Discontinued
2008 [Red Sonya] The Nightshades – Discontinued
**********************************PAST PROJECTS*****************************************
SNUFF PUPPETS – EVERYBODY – https://snuffpuppets.com/
ANY KIND OF CREATURE (interdisciplinary performance collective)
THE BRONTOSAURUS EFFECT (musical-theatre quartet)
XN (exploratory music duo) – https://xnnewmusic.wordpress.com/
ELECTRIC SQUIRREL (2 recorder players & lo-fi electronics duo) – https://electricsquirrel.wixsite.com/music
TIDAL GROVE (instrumental folk quartet)
TIERRA (jazz quartet) – https://austierra.bandcamp.com/
PLIGHT OF THE PEACOCK (composer-run, exploratory art-music quartet)
DINNER ON WEDNESDAY (instrumental folk quartet) – https://soundcloud.com/dinner-on-wednesday
FLIGHTLESS BIRD (guest artist) – https://flightlessbird.bandcamp.com/
OPENING ACT (musical-theatre trio)