Ryan Latimer
Ryan Latimer is a British composer whose music has been described as “anarchic and cartoonishly fun” (BBC R3), “deliciously playful” (Classical Music Magazine) and “irresistible in its tongue-in-cheek irreverence” (ISCM). His work has been performed internationally by leading ensembles including the London Symphony Orchestra, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, China National Symphony Orchestra, BBC Concert Orchestra, London Sinfonietta, Psappha and Britten Sinfonia.
Ryan’s recent orchestral work Antiarkie, composed for the BBC Symphony Orchestra, was broadcast on BBC Radio 3 and subsequently featured during the ISCM World Music Days festival, in Beijing. In 2020, the work received its third performance by St Petersburg Symphony Orchestra at the prestigious Shostakovich Grand Hall, in Russia.
In 2021, his debut album was released worldwide on NMC Recordings. “Allusive, sparkling and emphatically rhythmic” (The Guardian), it reached #2 in the UK Official Charts and received 5 stars from BBC Music Magazine. Other recent works, including Mills Mess, Moby Dick, and Chloe have also been released by RMN Records, Ablaze and on NMC’s ‘Next Wave’ album.
He is a regular collaborator with the contemporary dance group, Cohan Collective, and has worked closely with New York-based choreographer Jacqueline Bulnes and Phoenix Dance Theatre’s Artistic Director, Dane Hurst. In 2014, Ryan composed and co-directed his first chamber opera, Three Tall Tales of Dr Monsieur Façade. This interdisciplinary work, composed for ensemble, singers, actors and mimes, was developed in collaboration with dramaturges and performers from Warszawskie Centrum Pantomimy in Poland.
Many of his solo and chamber works have also featured at international festivals, including Darmstädter Ferienkurse (Germany), Gaudeamus Musiekweek (Netherlands), Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival (UK), ISCM World Music Days (China), Druskomanija (Lithuania), Aldebrugh Festival (UK) and Haapvavesi Folk Festival (Lativa).
Ryan is a Lecturer in Music at the University of Birmingham and supported by PRS for Music Foundation.
Work(s) for Slide Action:
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for 4 trombones
[Premiered 11/06/2022 Britten Studio, Aldeburgh Festival]
Cymothoa Exigua is a parasitic isopod in the form of tongue-eating louse that attaches itself to a fishes tongue by entering through the gills. [source: Wikipedia]
Quotes About Ryan:
“Latimer identifies creative playfulness as an essential feature of his artistic credo, and his energetic, hugely enjoyable, sometimes anarchic, tonal scores, full of humor without precluding sideways glances at serious subjects, add up to a body of work of great originality and unmistakable individuality of approach…”
Records International, October 2021
“Playful, complex, brightly characterful with a vivid sense of rhythm, this new portrait disc from NMC paints a vibrant picture of Ryan Latimer’s music”
Planet Hugill ★★★★☆ Robert Hugill, 24th November 2021