Composer Ryan Oldham is originally from Erie, Pennsylvania. He attended the Indiana University of Pennsylvania, where he originally studied Music Education. In accordance with his own hopes and dreams, he switched his focus to music composition and theory. At the Indiana University of Pennsylvania, Mr. Oldham studied with composers Daniel Perlongo, Dr. Jack Stamp, and Dr. Charles Cassavant. Oldham earned his Bachelor of Arts in Music Composition and Theory in December of 1999, graduating Cum Laude.
His compositions and diligent studies earned him the Moritz Von Bomhard Fellowship in music composition for the dramatic voice at the University of Louisville. By nature of the fellowship, Oldham's sole responsibility of the fellowship was creating music. Under the guidance of Dr. Steve Rouse, Oldham completed several works before starting his first full-length opera entitled Ereshkigal. While at the University of Louisville, Oldham had the opportunity to work with composers John Corigliano, Chinary Ung, Mark Satterwhite and Fred Speck. He received his Masters of Music in Composition in May of 2002.
Oldham is currently in pursuit of his Doctor of Musical Arts at the University of Missouri in Kansas City.
Oldham's music varies widely in style and musical language. He has composed pieces for orchestra, chorus, chamber ensembles, and jazz quintets. Oldham has worked in cooperation with visual artists David Heurbin, Edward Panar, as well as with literary works featuring Daniel Sargent. These include Oldham's String Trio #1, Fear, Flowers in the Darkness - Four Nocturnes, and Danse Macabre for prepared piano and percussion, which features a slideshow projected onto the performers.
Mr. Oldham's current projects include an orchestra composition, a wind ensemble composition, and a ballet for marionettes scored for piano and oboe. Oldham is also developing a system for composing that numerically encrypts text into non-pattern forming, infinite sets of pitches.