Born in Boston and raised behind the redwood curtain of northern California, pianist Ryan MacEvoy McCullough has developed a uniquely variegated career as soloist, vocal and instrumental collaborator, composer, recording artist, and pedagogue. His music-making encompasses work with historical keyboards, electro-acoustic tools and instruments, and close collaborations with many of today’s foremost composers.
Mr. McCullough’s growing discography features many world-premiere recordings, including solo piano works of Milosz Magin (Acte Prealable), Andrew McPherson (Secrets of Antikythera, Innova), John Liberatore (Line Drawings, Albany), Nicholas Vines (Hipster Zombies from Mars, Navona), art song and solo piano music of John Harbison and James Primosch with soprano Lucy Fitz Gibbon (Descent/Return, Albany), and art song by Sheila Silver (Beauty Intolerable, Albany, also with Ms. Fitz Gibbon). He is founder of False Azure Records, an independent label dedicated to new and unusual repertoire, which released its first album in 2022, the labor of forgetting, featuring world-premiere recordings of works by Katherine Balch and Dante De Silva. Upcoming releases include sedgeflowers, featuring works for two pianos by John Liberatore, Christopher Stark, and Karlheinz Stockhausen; and Brahms’ Die Schöne Magalone with soprano Lucy Fitz Gibbon, recorded on an 1857 Johann Streicher piano. He has also appeared on PBS’s Great Performances (Now Hear This, “The Schubert Generation”) and is an alumnus of NPR’s From the Top.
As a concerto soloist, Mr. McCullough has appeared frequently with orchestras, including the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Sarasota Festival Orchestra, Colburn Conservatory Orchestra, Orange County Wind Symphony, and World Festival Orchestra, with such conductors as George Benjamin, Gisele Ben-Dur, Fabien Gabel, Leonid Grin, Anthony Parnther, Larry Rachleff, Mischa Santora, and Joshua Weilerstein. He has collaborated closely and toured with the Mark Morris Dance Group, contemporary ensembles eighth blackbird and yarn/wire, and has performed at such venues as Jordan Hall, Koerner Hall, Ozawa Hall, the Park Avenue Armory, Walt Disney Concert Hall, Wigmore Hall, and at such festivals as the Tanglewood Music Center, Music Academy of the West, and the Marlboro Music Festival.
Mr. McCullough lives in Kingston, NY, with his wife, soprano Lucy Fitz Gibbon, and the two teach at the Bard College Conservatory. More info at RyanMMcCullough.com.
Ryan MacEvoy Mccullough performed with The Orchestra Now on September 30, 2023.
Bio: Sep 2023