Ryan Tanaka was born and raised in Aiea, on the island of Oahu, Hawaii. After spending 3 years in Japan as a child he had spent his pre-college years in Hawaii learning the Japanese language and mathematics. His musical interests began at an early age when he taught himself how to improvise on the piano. Later he learned to play the French Horn and experimented with writing electronic music using a sequencer.
Ryan initially enrolled at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign as an engineering major, mainly studying science and math for the first two years. He decided to switch to the school's music performance program, playing in the university's orchestral, chamber, band, and new music ensembles. After gaining an interest in composition, he eventually aquired his BA in music composition/theory, later enrolling in the composition/performance program at the California Institute of the Arts. He has studied and worked with members such as Stephen Taylor, Guy Garnett, George Lewis, Vinko Globokar, David Rosenboom, Steven Takasugi, Sara Roberts, and Vinny Golia, learning various aspects of musical improvisation and musical composition.
Influenced by the multicultural environment he had grown up in, Ryan's music focuses on eclecticism and poly-stylistic methods, using western and non-western, academic and popular styles in his work. Following this discipline, he has worked with numerous members of non-musical diciplines -- visual and conceptual artists, writers, philosophers, dancers, scientists, mathematicians, engineers, psychologists, political activists, cartoonists, and computer programmers.
As a composer, Ryan's music has been performed by ensembles such as the New Century Players, California EAR Unit, and the Formalist Quartet
As a performer, Ryan performs with the A-Tribute Ensemble, an improv group that performs within a wide variety of idioms, ranging from classical, jazz, world, folk, and contemporary musical styles. During this process, he has developed several improvisational skills, ranging from minimalist "phasing" techniques (between the right and left hand), twelve-tone, and prepared piano improvisations, in addition to doing numerous accompanimental work for dance and theater companies.. He is currently focusing his scholarly work on developing a pedagogical methodology within classical and non-idiomatic (e.g. free) improvisational practices, drawing ideas from the educational practices of Béla Bartók, Zoltán Kodály, and John Dewey.
--Ryan has earned his BA in composition/theory from University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, and MFA in performance/composition at the California Institute of the Arts. He is an active member of the International Society for Improvised Musics, American Composer's Forum, Los Angeles, and ASCAP.
His C.V. can be found here.