Ryan Williams is an Australian recorder player, improviser and interdisciplinary-performance maker. His creative practice on the recorder focuses on composing and improvising new music, and creating performances by collaborating with performers and composers. Ryan’s recorder playing is not bound to any particular genre, and he is inspired musically by collaborating with musicians from many different styles and traditions. He is regularly involved in improvisatory & exploratory music, folk music & traditional music from Eastern Europe, Scandinavia, Ireland and the UK, western classical art-music & jazz, and contemporary popular music. His focus on experimental and 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 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 musical ensembles around Australia including the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, ELISION Ensemble & Snuff Puppets, and teaches at the New Music Studio, Melbourne Conservatorium of Music and the Melbourne Recorder Academy. He has a strong connection to Japan through yearly artistic collaborations with communities and musicians, and he continues to develop many cultural links between Australia and Japan through leading international projects and artistic curation.

As a recorder player, Ryan has not often had access to conventional artistic pathways. This position as an outsider has allowed him to develop unique projects, and create new avenues for artistic exploration. He is committed to creating artistic opportunities for outsiders in his field, and continues to achieve this through artistic commissions, curation, education, and collaborative projects.

http://ryanwilliamsrecorder.com/