BIO
Ryan M. Hare, composer and bassoonist, was born in Reno, Nevada in 1970, and now lives in Pullman, Washington. He earned tenure and the rank of full Professor at Washington State University, where he taught composition, bassoon, and music theory from 2003 until 2020, when he decided to take a voluntary early retirement in order to focus his attention on composing.
Ryan’s music has been performed at a large variety of venues and festivals, in as diverse locations as Tokyo, Japan, and Darmstadt, Germany, as well as Southeast Asia and China. Commissioners include Fred Korman, longtime former principal oboist of the Oregon Symphony, and the Washington Music Teachers Association, who awarded Ryan "Washington State Composer of the Year" in 2012. Further commissions have come from the Walla Walla Symphony, Mid-Columbia Symphony, Washington Idaho Symphony, Common Tone Arts, Affinity Chamber Players, the University of Idaho Vandaleers Concert Choir, and the Lake Forest College Orchestra, among others. His music has been championed by numerous other well-known performers and ensembles around the world, with notable recognition from New Music USA, Artist Trust, and the American Prize. In addition, a number of Ryan's compositions are published by TrevCo Music Publishing and ALEA Publishing.
Much of the subject matter of Ryan Hare's music is drawn from nature; recurrent themes include the deep mysteries of the cosmos and the extraordinary beauty of the state of Washington—as originating from a gloriously violent and volcanic past. He finds delight in the outdoors, physics, and astronomy, both in pursuit of hobbies such as hiking, photography, and bicycling, and also as a source of musical inspiration. He has often found creative respite in bicycling all over the beautiful region of southeast Washington known as the Palouse.
Inspired by the multiplicity of styles found in art music of the twenty-first century, Ryan sees no essential contradiction between serialism, the avant-garde, minimalism, and the vernacular, but rather embraces the rich potential for all of it to be synthesized into something beautiful, compelling, and unexpected.
With numerous guest artist appearances at multiple venues around the U.S., including many at International Double Reed Society annual conferences, Ryan M. Hare seeks to combine composition and bassoon whenever possible. He believes in the promotion of the music of today for its own sake but also as a necessary component of maintaining and refreshing the interpretation of music of the past.
Ryan is a founding member of the Artemisia Winds chamber ensemble, and also serves as principal bassoonist of the Yakima Symphony Orchestra, McCall SummerFest orchestra, Siletz Bay Music Festival orchestra, co-principal bassoonist and contrabassoonist of the Walla Walla Symphony, contrabassoonist of the Mid-Columbia Symphony, and has performed in a variety of the leading professional ensembles all over the Pacific Northwest. He has been featured as a concerto soloist with the Yakima Symphony, Washington Idaho Symphony, and WSU Symphony Orchestra.
Before earning the degree Doctor of Musical Arts in Composition in 2000 at the University of Washington, Ryan M. Hare earned a Master of Music degree in Composition at Ithaca College, and a Bachelor of Arts degree with an emphasis in composition at Oregon State University. Ryan's principal teachers in composition include Joël-François Durand, Diane Thome, Richard Karpen, Greg Woodward, and Ron Jeffers. Additional composition studies were also undertaken with Shulamit Ran and Jacob Druckman, both visiting professors at Ithaca College, and Brian Ferneyhough and Paul-Heinz Dittrich at the 1996 Ferienkurse für neue Musik, Darmstadt, Germany. His primary bassoon teachers include Arthur Grossman, Lee Goodhew, and Mike Curtis, with additional studies in audition preparation with Seth Krimsky.