"Wigglesworth writes music stamped with iridescent hues, instrumental finesse, shapely ideas and a lyrical impulse that stays within reach even when textures turn prickly… [his] bright ear for glinting textures, his flair for taut motivic interplay, his conjuror’s ability to cast a spell." The Times 2009

Composer, conductor, pianist Ryan Wigglesworth was born in Yorkshire in 1979. Educated at Oxford University and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, between 2007 and 2009 he was a Lecturer at Cambridge University and a Fellow of Corpus Christi College.

His orchestral work, Sternenfall, written for the BBC Symphony Orchestra and premiered under the composer’s direction in February 2008, firmly established Wigglesworth as one of the leading composers of his generation. Two further works for the BBCSO immediately followed, The Genesis of Secrecy (commissioned by the BBC Proms and premiered in August 2009 conducted by Sir Andrew Davis) and Augenlieder, an orchestral song cycle for soprano Claire Booth premiered by Wigglesworth at the Barbican in November 2009. Other recent highlights include the premiere tour of his Tenebrae, commissioned by the Britten Sinfonia and performed at venues including Krakow’s Filharmonic Hall and the Wigmore Hall during January 2009; song cycles for the tenor James Gilchrist and Claire Booth (both also receiving their premieres at the Wigmore Hall); and choral works for the choirs of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge and New College, Oxford.

His close relationship with the BBCSO also encompasses his work as a conductor. Following a successful debut he was subsequently re-engaged to conduct the orchestra at the BBC Proms and to direct a programme of Beethoven and Stravinsky as part of their 2009/10 Barbican season. Recent seasons have also seen him make debut appearances with the Philharmonia at the Royal Festival Hall, London Sinfonietta, BCMG, Britten Sinfonia, Ensemble Modern, Birmingham Opera Company, Aldeburgh Almeida Opera, Avanti!, Ensemble Intercontemporain at the Cité de la Musique, Paris, and Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra. He has conducted over forty premieres, introducing works by some of the world’s foremost composers such as Harrison Birtwistle, Elliott Carter, and particularly Oliver Knussen, from whose advice and guidance he has benefitted for several years. Other recent engagements have included the premiere performances of Birtwistle’s latest opera The Corridor at the Aldeburgh Festival and Queen Elizabeth Hall with the London Sinfonietta and a return to the Philharmonia at the Southbank.

Also in demand as a pianist, he has appeared at many leading venues, including the Barbican, Wigmore Hall, the South Bank and Kings Place as well as on BBC Radio 3.

Ryan Wigglesworth is Artist-in-Association with the Netherlands Radio Chamber Orchestra and in 2012 was appointed Composer-in-Residence at English National Opera. He received the vocal prize at the 2010 British Composer Awards for his song cycle Augenlieder, and his recent recording of orchestral works by Harrison Birtwistle with the Hallé won awards from Gramophone and BBC Music magazines.

He recently conducted the Britten Sinfonia at London's Barbican Centre in performances of Oliver Knussen's Where the Wild Things Are and Higglety Pigglety Pop! in celebration of the composer's 60th birthday. Other highlights during the 2012/13 season include Carmen for ENO, his debut with the Deutsches Symphonie Orchester at the Berlin Philharmonie which will include the German premiere of Augenlieder, and a return to the London Philharmonic orchestra, for whom he will conduct Tippett's A Child of Our Time at the Royal Festival Hall.

Forthcoming commissions include works for Aldeburgh Music and the BBCSO for the centenary celebrations of Benjamin Britten's birth in 2013 and for the Concertgebouw Orchestra.

Ryan Wigglesworth is represented as a conductor by Emma-Jane Stokely at KD Schmid.