Ryan grew up among a family of professional brass musicians and educators in Cape Town, South Africa. He began learning the violin at age 6 and subsequently changed over to the trumpet at 7 for which he took lessons alongside a host of other instruments including the piano, guitar and double bass. It was at age 11 that he decided to leave the trumpet and take up the tenor trombone. This decision changed the trajectory of his musical career as he would audition for and receive a scholarship to attend Diocesan College Boys’ School in Cape Town for the duration of his high school years. It was here that he studied with British trombonist extraordinaire and brass teacher Stuart Scott. He attended the South African National Youth Orchestra course for multiple years throughout high school, travelling in 2006 to Germany as part of the South African National Youth Orchestra where he performed Beethoven’s 5th Symphony in the Beethoven Hall in the city of Bonn. After high school Ryan pursued his tertiary studies at the University of Cape Town where completed both a Performance Diploma and Post-Graduate Diploma in Western Classical music specializing in trombone performance. In this duration, he studied with trombonist and UCT head of brass William Haubrich, San Diego native and USC alumnus. Throughout and after his university career Ryan freelanced with the Cape Philharmonic, the Johannesburg Philharmonic and the KwaZulu-Natal Philharmonic Orchestras on Bass, Tenor and Alto Trombones. He also performed and won category prizes for local music competitions, taught music at various schools and freelanced in many jazz ensembles. Ryan moved to the US in 2019 to become a Marine Musician, eventually being stationed at MCAS Miramar. He performed in many parades and ceremonies in the duration of his service, including the illustrious Tournament of Roses Parade.

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