Ryan Francis, DMA

Portland-born composer Ryan Francis’s music first gained recognition in the mid-2000s through performer advocates such as pianist Vicky Chow, whose incisive performances of his piano music brought the attention of composer John Zorn, who offered Francis a record release on his label, Tzadik.  

Francis has written extensively for the solo piano,  and his music has been championed by numerous pianists including Vicky Chow, Conor Hanick, Julian Martin, Akimi Fukuhara, Yu Xi Wang, Jeffrey Payne, Anna Polonsky, Kai Schumacher, Han Chen, David Kaplan, Winston Choi, and Gabrielle Chou.   Other performers of Francis’s works include violinists Kristin Lee, Francesca Anderegg, Miranda Cuckson and Wayne Lee, sopranos Kiera Duffy and Neveen Alouba, clarinetist James Shields, and guitarist Mattias Schulstad.

Notable concert music commissions include High Line for American Composers Orchestra, Cloudscape for Camerata Jeonnam Orchestra, Concerto for Piano and Chamber Orchestra for Metropolis Ensemble, Sylvan for the Banff Centre of Canada, Akhet for the El Sakia String Orchestra, Nightwalk for Fear No Music Ensemble, Album for Guitar for Mattias Schulstad and Pittsburgh New Music Ensemble,  and Voynich Transcriptions for Chatter New Mexico.

Francis has collaborated with New York’s Metropolis Ensemble for over a decade including numerous commissions and programming credits, most recently as a contributor to the infinite online composition project Flame Keepers and as a co-curator of the Free Assembly online festival.  

Other collaborations include two ballets with choreographer Pontus Lidberg, The Living Fabric with musician Emily Wells, the video piece I AM NOT TAME with artist Nancy Davidson, the score for the video game Namco High with artist/writer Andrew Hussie, and a silent film score for Sword of the Samurai for Criterion Lone Wolf and Cub collection.

Francis’s music has work has received grants and awards including from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, the American Composers Forum, the Jerome Foundation, and the Augustine Foundation, RACC, and his music has been performed across the U.S. and internationally.

Francis is assistant professor at Pacific University where he teaches music technology, music theory, and world music studies.  He holds a B.M. in music composition from the University of Michigan and an M.M. and D.M.A. in music composition from the Juilliard School.