Nov 24 - Rising tenor performs at Douglas

November 24, 2010

Twenty years ago Lance Ryan was a guitar student in the Music Program at Douglas College before earning his Bachelor of Music degree in classical guitar at UBC.

Now he is one of Europe's fastest-rising dramatic tenors. 

And next month, as a way of giving back to the place that first nurtured his musicianship, Ryan is giving a benefit concert for Douglas College. 

On Dec. 13 Ryan will perform romantic art songs and arias by Wagner, Mahler, Strauss and Beethoven at the Laura C. Muir Performing Arts Theatre at the College's New Westminster Campus.

Funds from the concert will be used to establish the Lance Ryan Vocal Achievement Award, to be given annually to an outstanding singer at end of the second year of the Douglas College University Transfer Program in Music.

Ryan will be accompanied by his wife, Viviana Maria di Carlo (soprano), and pianist David Boothroyd.

On Dec. 14, Ryan will also lead a Voice Master Class in the Laura C. Muir Performing Arts Theatre from 12:30- 2:30 pm, where he will share his experience and insights with students from the Douglas College Music Department. Admission is free and the event is open to the public.

Ryan has sung leading roles at major opera houses in Rome, Florence, Vienna, London, Frankfurt, Dresden and Valencia, etc. In February he made his New York Metropolitan Opera debut in a broadcast performance of Strauss's Ariadne auf Naxos. His highly-acclaimed Siegfried in Wagner's Ring of the Nibelungs is available on DVD. Last summer he made his debut at the Wagner Festival in Bayreuth.  

The London Telegraph hailed Ryan's Siegfried at the 2009 Salzburg Festival as a "triumph." BBC Music Magazine described his DVD Siegfried as "arresting-tall and athletic, with a fine steely voice". Gramophone Magazine referred to his "formidable stage presence," "tireless stamina," and "musical and dramatic sensitivity." In its review of his DVD, Opera News said, "Built like a linebacker, blessed with a million-dollar smile and James Cagney eyes, Lance Ryan is a Siegfried of exhilarating vitality."

For further information on Lance Ryan, see lanceryan.com.

See Lance Ryan in concert Monday, Dec. 13, 7:30 pm at the Laura C. Muir Performing Arts Centre, fourth floor, Douglas College, 700 Royal Ave., New Westminster. Tickets: ($50 patron, $30 adult, $15 student/senior) at Massey Ticket Centre, 604 521 5050 or Sikora's Classical Records, 432 W. Hastings St., Vancouver, 604 685 0466.