Ryan Baxter is a candidate in the Doctor of Musical Arts program at Western University’s Don Wright Faculty of Music, studying solo piano performance with Professor Stéphan Sylvestre. At Western, Ryan is also enrolled in the Memegwaanh Indigenous Learning Honour program. He received a Bachelor of Music from Brock University (2019), an Ontario Graduate Certificate in Music Composition from Humber College (2020), and a Master of Music from the University of Manitoba (2022), graduating from all three programs with the highest standing. Most recently, he completed a Master of Education at Athabasca University (2024), with a focus area in instructional design. Outside of university study, Ryan holds LCRM, ARCT, and LTCL diplomas in piano, ARCT, ARCCO, CRCCO, and LTCL diplomas in organ, and an ARCT in piano pedagogy.
Ryan has been awarded both a SSHRC Canada Graduate Scholarship (CGS-M) and Ontario Graduate Scholarship to support his research on Australian piano four hands music, including Carl Vine’s Sonata for Piano Four Hands (2009) and Stuart Greenbaum’s Sonata for Piano, 4 Hands (2013). Last year, Ryan and fellow pianist Dr. Connor O’Kane performed these sonatas for a Conrad Grebel Noon Hour concert. Beyond academic life, Ryan is Music Director and Organist at Rowntree Memorial United Church in London, Ontario.
The programme includes:
Robert Schumann Waldszenen (Forest Scenes)
Claude Debussy La Cathedrale engloutie (The Sunken Cathedral)
John Luther Adams Nunataks
the premiere of a new piece by Toronto composer Tyler Verlsuis, called THE EARTH
Videos and photos will accompany the music.
Ryan Baxter
