Biography

Ryan is currently a PhD candidate at the Faculty of Education, University of Melbourne, Australia, under a full Research Training Programme scholarship. He has won numerous prizes and awards through his lifetime, most recently the prestigious doctoral scholarship from the Philosophy of Education Society of Australasia (PESA) in recognition of working at a high level in educational philosophy and theory. Ryan also has publications in some of the top music education journals such as Music Education Research and Research Studies in Music Education, and he regularly presents at educational conferences globally.

Ryan’s academic interests include critical theory, social justice, and the philosophy of education. In particular, he puts to work post-structuralist and post-humanist theories to differently conceptualise the professional identities and (non-)belonging of musician-teachers, with a view to addressing micro-political, neoliberal, and colonial influences that shape music learning environments. In his doctoral work, Ryan theorises ecologies of education as self-organising, beyond institutionalised schooling and its associated research, addressing the geopolitical and socio-cultural production of teacher subjectivities, as well as their potential for transformation. He combines this approach with a variety of critical philosophical and multi-modal methods, including post-qualitative and counter-colonial ways of ‘doing’ research. To support his work, Ryan was selected to attend Rosi Braidotti’s philosophy summer school courses at Utrecht University, The Netherlands, in 2023 and 2024.

He previously completed an MA in Applied Educational Leadership and Management from the Institute of Education, University College London, passing with distinction and gaining an academic achievement award. His thesis drew on years of leadership experience in Asia and focussed on developing and leading professional learning communities for a disparate and isolated workforce of studio music teachers.

Professionally, Ryan’s most significant role from 2013 to 2021 was working in Asia as a regional consultant for the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music (ABRSM), a UK-based music exam board, working on business development and supporting teachers throughout the region, including Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysia. His senior operational roles also involved working with governmental departments, universities, and NGOs in the region, while commercially forging strategic partnerships across both educational and performing arts sectors. This included The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, Yong Siew Yoh Conservatory of Music (National University of Singapore), Euroasia Association of Performing Arts and many more.

During his time in Asia, Ryan was a regular presenter and public speaker at concerts, festivals, and conferences, engaging with industry leaders, diplomats, and royalty. Ryan regularly curated practitioner conferences and led professional development programmes for music teachers, personally facilitating workshops across India, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Vietnam.

Prior to his role with ABRSM, from 2010 to 2012, Ryan spent three years leading music education projects in India, working in affiliation with the British Council, Goethe-Institut, and The Academy of Carnegie Hall, New York. He helped with the launch of several music schools across Mumbai as well as leading and training a large team of music teachers. In preparation for this extensive project, he was coached in piano and Kodály pedagogy from the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto, Canada. Ryan was also a trustee for a registered charity, the Worldwide Appreciation of Music (WAM) Foundation, London, where he governed a volunteer music teaching programme across India.

As a musician, Ryan began playing the piano at the age of 6, having been initially taught by ear from his grandmother. He performed extensively through his younger years and went on to graduate with a Bachelor of Music from King’s College London, achieving first class honours, and studied piano at the Royal Academy of Music. He also studied composition and piano at the Faculty of Music, University of Toronto, Canada, having been awarded the university’s highest entrance scholarship and sponsored to attend a conference for performers in Rome, Italy, during the summer of 2008. His solo, chamber, and concerto repertoire mostly comprised the piano works of Beethoven, Brahms, Grieg, and Rachmaninov. Ryan maintains performing interests in collaborative piano (Western classical), often accompanying singers and instrumentalists for recitals and recordings, and has dabbled in musical theatre.

Over the last 20 years, Ryan has coached piano students of all levels and ages, and while in India taught classroom music and the International Baccalaureate Diploma in Music. He continues to be a graded and diploma music examiner for the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music (ABRSM), examining hundreds of digital and face-to-face exams in the UK and internationally each year. In 2015, Ryan was admitted a Fellow of the Royal Schools of Music (FRSM) and is regularly sought after to adjudicate for piano, strings, and choral competitions across Asia and internationally. He was often praised for his encouraging, fair, and supportive approach within such festivals, including the Young Talents Project in Singapore, televised by Mediacorp, and where he also featured on Symphony924 radio. Ryan enjoys sharing his passion of music through a range educational projects, teacher engagement, and research.