Music, Theatre, Dance Faculty & Staff
Last Name
Christianson
First Name
Ryan
Email
christr1@gvsu.edu
Title
Visiting Professor, Trombone/Jazz
Website
About
Ryan Christianson is a multifaceted performer and educator whose career has spanned numerous styles and settings. As the trombonist of the internationally-touring Dallas Brass, Ryan has presented masterclasses and performances around the country including at such venues and institutions as the Colburn School (Los Angeles, CA), the New World School of the Arts (Miami, FL), the Midwest Band and Orchestra Clinic (Chicago, IL), the Big Sky Classical Music Festival (Big Sky, MT), and the OK Mozart Festival (Bartlesville, OK), as well as numerous other MEAs, universities, concert halls, and high schools. Ryan has also held positions with the Milwaukee Ballet Orchestra and Millikin-Decatur Symphony, and performed chamber recitals with members of the Chicago Symphony and Lyric Opera orchestras.
In addition to his work as a classical trombonist, Ryan maintains a prominent career as a freelance commercial and jazz performer. Notable appearances as a commercial musician include at the North Coast Music Festival with EDM artist Diplo, on ABC’s Shark Tank with the McNasty Brass Band, and opening for Bruno Mars at the 2023 Illinois Gubernatorial Inauguration. As a jazz artist, Ryan has appeared with groups at the Chicago Jazz Festival, the Twin Cities Jazz Festival, the Winnipeg Jazz Festival, and in numerous residencies with big bands and New Orleans-style brass bands at a variety of clubs and venues across the Chicagoland area. Additionally, Ryan was a finalist in the International Trombone Association’s Carl Fontana Competition in 2014.
A dedicated educator, Ryan has previously held positions at Millikin University and the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. Prior to college teaching, he maintained a studio of middle and high school students through which students were regularly placed in the top honor bands, orchestras, and jazz bands in Illinois. Ryan holds a DMA in Trombone Performance with a minor in Music Education from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, a MM in Jazz Composition from DePaul University, and a BM in Trombone Performance from the University of Minnesota. He is a performing artist and clinician for Conn-Selmer instruments and Denis Wick mouthpieces and mutes.