Northwestern University Symphonic Band

College Band Directors National Association North Central Division Conference
University of Nebraska-Omaha
March 14, 2008
Ryan T. Nelson, conductor

Concert Program

Bum's Rush ________________________________Donald Grantham

American Child __________________________________Carter Pann

Santa Fe Saga _________________________________Morton Gould

The Alcotts______________________________________Charles Ives

Fourth of July __________________________________ Morton Gould

 

Ryan T. Nelson is considered one of the most versatile conductors of his generation. An active conductor of wind ensembles, contemporary music and music theatre, Ryan’s work has been praised by contemporary composers John Adams, Oliver Knussen, Augusta Reed Thomas, Eric Whitacre, Alejandro Vinao, and Joseph Thalken.

Ryan is an assistant professor of music at Northwestern University, where he conducts the Symphonic Band and Contemporary Music Ensemble, teaches conducting, and teaches courses in music education and wind literature. He is also the co-director of New Music Northwestern and is the resident music director for the Northwestern Music Theatre Program.

Outside of Northwestern, Ryan is the music director for the American Music Theatre Project (AMTP) and music director of the Illinois Brass Band, a six-time North American Brass Band Association champion. He has music directed productions of Footloose, Oliver, and Grease at the Marriott Theatre and the premieres of Was, The Boys are Coming Home, a concert version of Eric Whitacre’s Paradise Lost, and Andrew Lippa’s Asphalt Beach in collaboration with AMTP. In the summer of 2008, he will be supervising AMTP’s fifth new work, Michele Brourman’s Dangerous Beauty, and will be returning to the Marriott to direct All Shook Up.

Ryan’s ensembles have been heard at regional conferences and on the radio. Live recordings of Morton Gould’s Symphony No. 4, John Adams’s Gnarly Buttons, and Percy Grainger’s Lincolnshire Posy have been heard on WFMT – Chicago’s fine arts and classical station. The Northwestern University Symphonic Band performed at the 2006 CBDNA North Central Regional Conference, a conference which Ryan also hosted.

Ryan received his bachelor’s degree in music education from Duquesne University, where he studied conducting with Brady Allred. His master of music and doctor of musical arts degrees in conducting are from the University of North Texas, where he was a student of Eugene Migliaro Corporon. Ryan is a member of the Music Educators National Conference (MENC), the College Music Society (CMS), and the College Band Directors National Association (CBDNA). Please visit ryantnelson.com for performance schedules, repertoire, and other information.