Whether composing, conducting or teaching, or producing concerts or albums, Bill Ryan is passionate about contemporary music and bringing it to diverse audiences.Bill’s compositions are consistently heard on the concert stage, radio, and with dance throughout the country. Gramophone magazine describes his music as "Gritty and funky" and further wrote, "Rarely has music this earthy been so elegant…Ryan's music constantly threatens to burst at the seams, were those seams not so artfully tructured." He has received numerous composition honors, including an ASCAP Young Composers Award and a Meet the Composer Education Program grant. This past year Bill’s music was performed over fifty times in cities including New York, Brooklyn, Chicago, Philadelphia, Atlanta, St. Louis, Syracuse, Houston, Austin, and Long Beach. Other recent activity includes commissions by Opus 21, the Robin Cox Ensemble, violinist Todd Reynolds, and projects with Travesty Dance of Houston. Bill has produced over 45 concerts in his Open Ears and Free Play concert series, gaining national recognition with three ASCAP/Chamber Music America Adventurous Programming Awards. As a conductor he has commissioned and premiered dozens of works by composers including Phil Kline, Marc Mellits, Belinda Reynolds, Evan Ziporyn, and Pulitzer Prize winner David Lang.