About Ryan
Ryan Suleiman, born to Lebanese and Mid-Western parents in California, writes music that engages with dream logic, the natural world, and the understated beauty of everyday life. His one-act chamber opera, Moon, Bride, Dogs, was described by the San Francisco Chronicle as “a gem” with “an aesthetic that is at once so strange and so accessible.” While his artistic interests vary, he seeks ways of conveying the simultaneity of beauty and dread that characterizes our times.
Suleiman’s music has been performed at festivals including SICPP (Boston), June in Buffalo (NY), and the NANOworks Opera Workshop (Atlanta), among others. He has collaborated with numerous renowned soloists and ensembles, including West Edge Opera, Left Coast Chamber Ensemble, Lowell Chamber Orchestra, Daedalus Quartet, Ensemble Mise-en, Symphony d’Oro, and Camerata Capistrano. His piano cycle Under Moonlight was recorded by Jai Jeffryes in his solo album Amethyst (Naxos).
Above all, Suleiman asks in his work, “what is music and what is it doing?” Over the years, this has led to a variety of compositional approaches, from exploring philosophical and mystical aspects of the natural world to offering space for peace and contemplation. He recently co-produced a theatricalized portrait concert at Boston Conservatory called “Symbiosis” in collaboration with the Fourth Wall Ensemble that touched on many of these themes. His interview series, Reflections on Music and Nature, explores the connection between music, ecology, and activism
Current projects include a new work for Lowell Chamber Orchestra, a song cycle for soprano Dana Varga setting poems Syrian-French writer Maram al-Masri, and an opera called The School for Girls Who Lost Everything in the Fire (in progress) with writer Cristina Fríes, supported by West Edge Opera. He recently completed three etudes in collaboration with pianist Sakurako Kanemitsu and artist Peter London.
Ryan completed his Ph.D. at University of California, Davis, where he wrote his dissertation on Unsuk Chin’s Cello Concerto through the lens of dreams and performance. He is an Assistant Professor at Berklee College of Music and has held teaching positions at the Sacramento State School of Music and UC Davis. He currently resides in Boston with his partner and several furry animals, where he also teaches composition privately. More at www.ryansuleiman.com.