Violinist Ryan Meehan has been hailed for his “singing tone” (New York Times) and his “remarkably polished and sophisticated playing” (Chicago Tribune). As a member of the Calidore String Quartet he is a recipient of an Avery Fisher Career Grant, a Borletti-Buitoni Trust Fellowship, Lincoln Center Emerging Artist Award, BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artist and is a member of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. In 2023, Ryan performed in an international tour with violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter as part of her Virtuosi ensemble. Ryan regularly performs in venues such as Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Berlin Konzerthaus, Cologne Philharmonie, Seoul’s Kumho Arts Hall and at festivals, including the BBC Proms, Verbier, Ravinia, Mostly Mozart, Music@Menlo, Rheingau and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. With the Calidore, he has released six commercial recordings including recent release of the late Beethoven String Quartets.
As a soloist, Ryan has garnered top prizes in competitions, including the Washington International Competition, ASTA National Solo Competition and NFAA Young Arts. He has performed as soloist with the Colburn Orchestra and the Bellingham Festival Orchestra and played recitals throughout the North America, South America and Europe. As a chamber musician, he won grand prize at the $100,000 M-Prize, Coleman, Chesapeake, St. Paul and Rembrandt chamber music competitions, as well as prizes at the ARD Munich, Hamburg and Fischoff competitions. He has collaborated with such esteemed musicians as Anne-Sophie Mutter, Menahem Pressler, Jean-Yves Thibaudet, Anthony McGill, Lawrence Power and the members of the Emerson and Ebène String Quartets.
Ryan serves on the faculty of the University of Delaware School of Music as Associate Professor of Violin and co-directs the UD Fellowship Quartet Program and Calidore String Quartet Seminar. He also served as the String Chamber Music Director at the University of Michigan School of Music, Theater and Dance. Previously, he served as artist-in-residence at the University of Toronto. In response to the 2020 summer festival cancellations caused by the Covid-19 epidemic, Ryan co-founded the Virtuosi Virtual Summer Academy (VVSA), which connected a diverse group violinists and pianists with the world’s leading soloists, chamber and orchestral musicians.
A dedicated teacher, Ryan’s violin students have won top prizes in national and international violin competitions such as the Klein, Cooper, Sphinx and Concert Artist Guild Competitions (Grand Prize). They have been invited to prestigious summer festivals such as the Verbier Festival Academy, Perlman Music Program and Music@Menlo, performed as soloist with numerous orchestras and have been accepted on full scholarships to musical institutions, such as the Colburn School, Indiana University, Hochschule für Musik in Munich. His former students perform professionally in orchestras across the world. He is a graduate of the Colburn School Conservatory of Music in Los Angeles and the Escuela Superior de Música Reina Sofía in Madrid. His teachers include Almita and Roland Vamos, Robert Lipsett, Arnold Steinhardt, Julia Fischer, Günther Pichler with significant influence from Ana Chumachenco. He plays a violin by Vincenzo Panormo c. 1775 and is sponsored generously by Thomastik-Infeld, Vienna.
Instagram: @rmeehanvln