Gary Ryan

Gary Ryan is one of the world’s leading exponents of the guitar and has performed to exceptional critical acclaim at major venues throughout the UK and abroad. He made his London recital debut for the Park Lane Group Young Artists Series at the Purcell Room in 1994 and has since established a highly varied international career as a solo performer, teacher, composer and adjudicator.

Gary studied as a junior from the age of 8 at the Guildhall School of Music, later winning a scholarship to study at the Royal Academy of Music in 1987. In 1991 he graduated with first class honours and many awards including the Julian Bream Prize and the John Mundy String Prize and was made an Honorary Associate of the Royal Academy of Music in 1997. In 2013 he then became the first guitarist since John Williams in 1983 to be awarded a Fellowship of the Royal College of Music.

Gary Ryan is also well known for his guitar compositions which combine traditional classical techniques with a rich variety of musical influences and contemporary guitar styles, as in his solo piece Benga Beat which was premiered to great acclaim in 2011.

In 2016 Gary Ryan was invited by John Williams to form 6 Hands, a new collaborative guitar trio with the jazz guitarist John Etheridge which has since toured the UK extensively.

Gary Ryan’s guitars are made by the English luthier Stephen Hill.

Gary Ryan is performing as part of the West Dean International Classical Guitar Festival in August 2020. Find out more.