Ryan G.-

I started music very young, teaching myself to play the piano accompaniment to songs that I was learning in a local children's choir. I began writing my own songs with no knowledge of music theory, one of which was commissioned and performed for an event at the San Jacinto Monument in front of various political representatives. I started formally taking voice lessons after my voice dropped, and expanded from songwriting to experimenting with writing for orchestras. I graduated high school a year early, and pursued a vocal performance degree at Oklahoma Christian University for five years. During that time, I was cast in leading roles to various musicals, operas, and plays; some notable roles were "Beast" in Beauty and the Beast, "Horton" in Seussical the Musical, "Alfredo" in La Traviata, and "Guglielmo" in Cosi Fan Tutte. After taking all of my undergrad music courses, my scholarships ended after 5 years and I was unable to afford to finish the rest of my classes, so I moved to the DFW area of Texas and taught private music lessons for voice and piano full-time. I took on the directing responsibilities for a children's theater program for a year as well, during which time we put on five musicals, including High School Musical Jr. and Into the Woods Jr.