What can you say about a pianist whose first favorite sound was made by marbles rolling in an aluminum dishpan? In addition to practicing scales and classical repertory on her way to earning undergraduate and graduate degrees in music, Kathleen Ryan played snare drum in a marching band; wrote and performed singing telegrams; improvised music for avant garde dancers; composed a folk rock opera based on the Tristan and Isolde legend; and sang and danced in a hippie liturgical drama presented at the Ohio State Fair.
After a very brief fling as a folk singer, and a somewhat longer interlude as a classical pianist, Kathleen began searching for ways to “sing the piano” — to that is, to transform the piano into a medium as intimately expressive as the human voice. “When I am composing,” she says, “I don't necessarily hear music inside. Instead, I experience a subtle dissatisfaction until the sounds my hands create match the deeper emotion I feel within.”
With a nearly lifelong meditation practice and a deep faith, Kathleen’s mission with her piano solos is to uplift her listeners, to offer them a doorway to the healing inner silence that may be difficult to access in the everyday stresses of life.
Stylistically, her music is contemporary impressionism, borrowing techniques and forms from classical, folk, blues, and Broadway styles. Kathleen uses the piano to sing, to paint in colors, and to create sacred space. http://www.kathleenryan.com/
