Jonathan Ryan
Principal Cor Anglais
Jonathan joined WASO in 2023.
Jonathan was born in Melbourne, where he received his first oboe lessons from Mark Eagling and furthered his studies with Eve Newsome. During this time, Jonathan performed with the Melbourne and Australian Youth Orchestras, participated in numerous masterclasses at the Australian National Academy of Music, and was a soloist with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra as part of its Young Artists’ Program.
Moving to Sydney, Jonathan studied with Alexandre Oguey at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music where he completed a Bachelor of Music Performance, graduating with First Class Honours, and was a prize-winner at the 2008 Sydney Double Reed Competition.
Subsequently, Jonathan moved to Europe where he studied with Professor Nicholas Daniel, Bengt Rosengren, Professor François Leleux and Tobias Vogelmann and was awarded a Graduate Diploma from the Staatliche Hochschule für Musik, Trossingen; and both a Master of Music Performance and a Master of Contemporary Music from the Hochschule für Musik und Theater, Munich. In Europe, he played as a guest with many ensembles, including the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Swedish and Munich Radio Orchestras, Royal Stockholm Philharmonic, Gärtnerplatz Theatre, Munich Symphony, Bavarian Chamber Orchestra, Philharmonie Südwestfallen, Bayerisches Kammerorchester and German Wind Soloists. He has appeared as a soloist with the Sydney Youth Orchestra and Orchesterverein Kempten, Bavaria.
Following his return from Europe in 2017, Jonathan held contract positions on multiple occasions as Principal Cor Anglais with the Opera Australia Orchestra and has played as a guest with the Sydney, Tasmanian and West Australian Symphony Orchestras. A committed teacher, Jonathan has conducted masterclasses for the Australasian Double Reeds Society, the UWA Conservatorium of Music and has recently joined WAAPA as an oboe teacher.
A boy soprano soloist in his youth, Jonathan was drawn to the soulful cor anglais solos prominent in opera. He currently plays on a Lorée instrument.
Jonathan's Chair is supported by Joshua & Pamela Pitt through the Duet program.