Michael Ryan, The Guitar Man

Senior Adjunct Professor of Music at the University of La Verne, Classical Guitarist

Making his home in Claremont, California, Michael has regularly performed throughout Europe and the United States. His compositions are influenced by a rich heritage of Irish, Flamenco and Latin musical traditions.  His unique musical landscapes draw from these sources, centered in the beautiful, expressive sounds of the classical guitar.

The romantic and passionate music performed by classical guitarist Michael Ryan evokes a wide range of moods. Personal and heartfelt, these pieces connect to the listener in a special way. Claremont's Candlelight Pavilion Dinner Theatre owes much of its romantic ambience to its preshow dinner music, which is provided by Claremont guitarist Michael Ryan. Before the shows, Ryan plays Spanish classical pieces, Irish folk songs, light blues and a few originals on his Esteve acoustic guitar. Ryan holds a bachelor's degree in guitar performance from the University of La Verne, where he now teaches. He also has a master's degree in vocal performance from Chico State. His three albums, including the latest, "Romance," all are solo guitar. But Ryan said he plans to sing on the next one. Like others of his generation, Ryan first picked up a guitar to play rock'n' roll and folk. But as soon as he heard classical guitar, he was hooked. Italian Romantic composer Francisco Tarrega is his favorite. His gig at the Candlelight Pavilion "It's just a high-class place, and they do great musicals. I play for the people eating and, quite often, they stay quiet and listen." The guitar mystique "The guitar has a magic quality to it. It¹s very consuming, and it almost takes you over. There's something about the intimacy of the guitar. It ranges from very soft to very powerful. it's a strong, very moving thing." His inspiration "I recently saw a video of Andres Segovia playing when he was in his '9Os. They filmed it at a castle. You could see he is just absorbed with the sound and the guitar. He was the type of person that if he held a note, he could stop an audience from breathing because you were so with him. That's my inspiration: to be so in tune with the music and the audience and the moment." The experience of playing "When you play music, you have the elements of time and space. When you pluck that note, it just goes into the whole room. You and everyone else are part of that sound." Music, the universe and everything "Music is part of all life. It keeps me aware that we're in this amazing universe of time and space. If you've ever studied Einstein's physics theories, you realize 'wow!' Playing music keeps me in touch with that. In your daily life you have the routine you do, and there's stress times where you have to get something done. In music, when you're there playing, all that can go away and it can be your time to just connect. " Portions of this Bio were written by Rick Mortensen at the Daily Bulletin Return to Home Page