Music Director & Conductor
Ryan Haskins
Named as the 6th Music Director and Conductor of the Sioux City Symphony Orchestra, Ryan Haskins is a young, up and coming conductor with exceptional talent who stands out from the rest of his conducting peers.
During his recent tenure in the United Kingdom, Haskins held a number of positions with renowned ensembles. In the spring of 2006, he was Assistant Conductor to the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama’s critically acclaimed production of Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas. From there he went on to work with such ensembles as the BBC National Orchestra of Wales and the National Chorus of Wales. He was hand-selected as an associate conductor/deputy chorus master of the London Symphony Chorus and chorus master of selective LSC European concert tours. In 2007 Haskins was called upon by the staff of the London Symphony Chorus/London Symphony Orchestra to begin rehearsals for Sir Colin Davis’ recording/live radio broadcast of Berlioz’ Benvenuto Cellini.
Haskins holds degrees from the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama (Cardiff, Wales) and the Baldwin-Wallace Conservatory of Music (Cleveland, OH) under the direction of Dwight Oltman. From 1999-2004 Haskins served as the Assistant Conductor of the Baldwin-Wallace Symphony Orchestra, the Symphonic Wind Ensemble, and was founding Music Director of the Baldwin-Wallace Contemporary Orchestra. In the spring of 2003, Haskins celebrated his radio debut concert on Cleveland’s Classical Music Station WCLV in a national broadcast conducting the Baldwin-Wallace Symphony Orchestra. While in Cleveland, he served as the Music Director and Principal Conductor of the Euclid Orchestra (OH) and The Mozart Sinfonietta of Cleveland. During this time, Haskins organized numerous benefit concerts raising several thousand dollars for selected charities, including the American Red Cross and Habitat for Humanity.
There have been many festivals worldwide in which Haskins has participated. Among these are the Baldwin-Wallace Bach Festival (Cleveland, OH); the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music (Santa Cruz, CA); the International Conducting Workshop (Czech Republic); the Orkney Conducting Course, St. Magnus Festival (Scotland); and the Second International Polish Music Festival (Poland). Through these festivals and other engagements, he has had the opportunity to perform with such ensembles as the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, the National Chorus of Wales, the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, the St. Magnus Festival Chorus, the Kreisler Ensemble, the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music Symphony Orchestra, the Manhattan School of Music Symphony Orchestra, and the Peabody Symphony Orchestra. Haskins served as Assistant Conductor to the Muncie Symphony Orchestra (Ind.) and is currently the Assistant Conductor to the Opera Department at Peabody Conservatory, Assistant Conductor to the Peabody Symphony Orchestra and Cover Conductor for Marin Alsop and the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra.
In the spring of 2009 Haskins was personally chosen by Maestro Kurt Masur for the second consecutive year to be one of the conducting participants in Masur’s selective conducting seminar/workshop in New York City. He was also one of few young emerging conductors chosen to perform in the first Brahms Workshop under the direction of Maestri Mark Gibson and Gustav Meier in Cincinnati, Ohio. Most recently in August 2009, Haskins was hand-selected by Maestra Marin Alsop as a participating conductor at the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music (Santa Cruz, Calif.). Haskins has also had the opportunity to work with other world-renown conductors such as Pierre Boulez, Tadaaki Otaka, Krzystof Penderecki, and Jac van Steen.
Deemed as an innovator of creative and unique concert programs, Haskins has a passion for inspiring young musicians and for collaborating with composers of today. As one of the twelve founding members, he was selected secretary of the group K12, an executive committee of the U.K.’s leading conducting pedagogues who encourage international educational exchange and the promotion of young musicians. In the U.S., Haskins annually holds workshops focused on developing the aspiring orchestral player and is in demand for his creative and energetic approach to music education. He has also been internationally recognized for his true enthusiasm and drive in the promotion of young American composers.
A native of Cleveland, Ohio, Ryan Haskins resides in Baltimore where he is currently under the tutelage of master teacher Gustav Meier, Marin Alsop and Markand Thakar at the Peabody Conservatory of Music where he holds an assistantship in orchestral conducting.
