Ryan Townsend
Strand
Schedule
Recent Highlights
Ryan Townsend Strand
Tenor Soloist
Dates
Description
Letters to Jackie is a body of collected works based on the letters in the national archives representing the collective grief of people over the tragedy of the assassination of JFK. It is a touchstone for turning inward and experiencing grief through the lens of a national tragedy. LTJ invites listeners on a communal journey to safely explore grief and spark conversation on the importance of human connection.
Letters to Jackie offers a glimpse into a touchstone moment in American history, representing the audience in which it serves and for which it is performed. Under the guidance and principles of equal representation, the cycle includes voices of differing sex, gender, race, creed, and citizenship to offer hope, community, and access.
There is power in the written word. The words we say often go unremembered, spilling out into our world and often never reaching another’s ear. When words are important enough to write, they gain the power of history. On November 22, 1963, U.S. President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, TX while sitting next to his wife, Jacqueline Kennedy. For years to come after this infamous day, letters were written to Jackie, expressing condolences and confusion, the spectrum of grief memorialized in the written word. This project seeks to give voice to those letters, providing community for an audience, and sharing in that collective grief. As opposed to an expose about who JFK was, Letters To Jackie seeks to centralize Grief as the main character of this experience, allowing people to resonate with the universal idea of loss through music, media, and community.
The world-premiere performance of Letters to Jackie will take place on November 19, 2023 in commemoration of the 60th anniversary of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy performed by Ryan Townsend Strand, tenor and Karina Kontorovitch, piano.
Letters to Jackie is an expansion of an earlier composition “Bethesda, Maryland: Nov 23, 1963" by composer, Erik Pearson. Ryan Townsend Strand and Erik Pearson won first prize in the 2019 Chicago SongSlam Competition for their performance of this work. Click here for more information.
Ryan Townsend Strand
Tenor
Dates
Description
The Civic Orchestra’s virtuosity is put on display, continuing its beloved annual tradition with an evening of J.S. Bach’s joyous and inventive music. The Brandenburg Concertos lift spirits with their pulsing rhythms, novel instrumental combinations and an electrifying harpsichord solo. Principal Conductor Ken-David Masur leads two Christmas cantatas that showcase Bach’s masterful writing for voices, here brought to life by the Chicago Symphony Chorus and soloists.
Ryan Townsend Strand, tenor, Dave Govertson, bass-baritone, Rachel Sparrow, soprano, Lauren Rudolph, mezzo-soprano
Ryan Townsend Strand
Tenor
Dates
Description
Tenor soloist at the Harris Theater for Music & Dance in Chicago, IL.
Ryan Townsend Strand
Tenor
Dates
Ryan Townsend Strand
Tenor
Dates
Ryan Townsend Strand
Performer
Dates
Ryan Townsend Strand
Tenor
Dates
Ryan Townsend Strand
Pleasure
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Ryan Townsend Strand
Rehearsal Pianist
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Michael Shell
Director
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David Walton
Performer, Performer
Dates
Biography
Ryan Townsend Strand, tenor, is a Minnesota native whose "beautiful vocalism" (San Francisco Chronicle) and "pliant tenor” (Chicago Classical Review) have afforded him an expanding career as a concert and oratorio soloist. Strand most recently was a featured soloist performing BWV 48, Ich elender Mensch, wer wird mich erlösen. Highlights of the 2023-2024 season include featured performances with Bella Voce in October, touring New England with Constellation in January, and debuting as tenor soloist for Beethoven’s 9th Symphony with Illinois Phil in the spring. Especially exciting this fall, Strand will perform a solo recital entitled Letters To Jackie, premiering 15 works by some of the most sought after voices in classical music today, in tandem with the 60th anniversary of JFK’s assassination. Letters To Jackie will tour throughout the 23-24 season.
Strand made his professional Chicago opera debut in Haymarket Opera Company’s production of Alessandro Scarlatti’s Gli equivoci nel sembiante (Armindo). In the fall of 2020, he premiered Acis & Galatea in HD (Chorus, Acis Cover) as part of “a sparkling group of singers,” (Hyde Park Herald). He returned to Haymarket for their production of Monteverdi’s L’incoronazione di Poppea in September 2022 as Primo Soldato. Other operatic productions include Handel’s Beauty’s Truth (Pleasure) & Così fan tutte (Ferrando) with Transgressive Theater-Opera & Elmhurst Symphony; Mark Adamo’s Little Women (Laurie), Monteverdi’s L’incoronazione di Poppea (Nero), and Ricky Ian Gordon’s The Grapes of Wrath (Al Joad) with Northwestern Opera Theater. With Chicago Opera Theater, Strand most recently performed Jake Heggie’s Moby Dick and has sung other chorus roles in productions of Philip Glass’ The Perfect American, Mozart’s Lucio Silla, and Bloch’s Macbeth. Strand will make his onstage debut with Lyric Opera of Chicago in their upcoming productions of Der fliegende Holländer and Aida next season.
Strand has sung with the Grammy award-winning contemporary vocal ensemble The Crossing in Philadelphia under the direction of Donald Nally. He performs regularly with Music of the Baroque, Stare at the Sun, Bella Voce, William Ferris Chorale, Chicago A Cappella, and the Grant Park Festival Chorus. Strand is a founding member and executive director of Constellation Men’s Ensemble, celebrating their tenth season as Chicago’s premier tenor/bass ensemble.
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