Ryan is a proud Torontonian who makes his home in the west end of the city with his lovely wife, Lydia. Ryan received his Bachelor degree in Vocal Performance from the University of Toronto, completed a year in the Glenn Gould School, and completed his formal education by earning a Masters in Vocal Performance from The Florida State University. Further education was pursued when attending the following programs: L’Atelier Lyrique (l’Opéra de Montréal,) Bach Akademie Festival Ensemble, conductor Helmuth Rilling, Germany and Greece; Tanglewood Music Center, vocal arts fellowship, Massachusetts, U.S.A; Summer Opera Lyric Theatre, Toronto; National Arts Centre Summer Music Institute, teacher Benita valente, Ottawa, Canada; Highlands Opera, Richard Margison and Val Kuinka, Haliburton, Canada.

Ryan is in his 6th season with the Canadian Opera Company as a member of its esteemed chorus. This season Ryan will participate in Wagner’s Götterdämmerung, and Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte. In October Harper will reprise the role of Max for Opera By Request’s performance of Der Freischütz, then, in November, will sing with Off Centre Music Salon in their Russian Salon; the month will conclude with a highly evocative new rendition -created by Alaina Viau- of the beloved romantic staple, Carmen.

Having worked almost exclusively in Canada has helped to develop a unique relationship with independant opera companies. Ryan has had the pleasure of singing Tamino in Die Zauberflöte for the Chilliwack Opera Company, La Boheme for both Capital City Opera, Against the Grain, and Cowtown Opera, Carmen for Loose Tea Opera, Rigoletto and La Gioconda with Calgary Concert Opera, and countless shows with Opera By request, including: Rusalka, Jakobim, Mefistofele, Der Freischütz, and La Traviata.

Ryan’s concert work has included the North American premiere of a Puccini work entitled Cessato il suon dell’armi with the Buffalo Philharmonic, tenor soloist in Bach’s Mass in B Minor with the Mendelssohn Choir, tenor soloist in Mozart’s Requiem with the Elmer Eisler Singer’s conducted by Lydia Adams during the Festival of the Sound, soloist in Canada Day celebrations with the National Arts Centre Orchestra in Ottawa, many renditions of Handel’s Messiah, and a most delightful and continuing relationship in creativity with the brilliant Inna Perkis and Boris Zarankin in their concert series, Off Centre Music Salon.