Ryan Baxter
Performance - Solo Piano
Office: TC 330
Email: rbaxte@uwo.ca
Ryan Baxter is a candidate in the Doctor of Musical Arts program at Western University’s Don Wright Faculty of Music, studying solo piano performance with Professor Stéphan Sylvestre. At Western, Ryan is also enrolled in the Memegwaanh Indigenous Learning Honour program. He received a Bachelor of Music from Brock University (2019), an Ontario Graduate Certificate in Music Composition from Humber College (2020), and a Master of Music from the University of Manitoba (2022), graduating from all three programs with the highest standing. Most recently, he completed a Master of Education at Athabasca University (2024), with a focus area in instructional design. Outside of university study, Ryan holds LCRM, ARCT, and LTCL diplomas in piano, ARCT, ARCCO, CRCCO, and LTCL diplomas in organ, and an ARCT in piano pedagogy.
Ryan has been awarded both a SSHRC Canada Graduate Scholarship (CGS-M) and Ontario Graduate Scholarship to support his research on Australian piano four hands music, including Carl Vine’s Sonata for Piano Four Hands (2009) and Stuart Greenbaum’s Sonata for Piano, 4 Hands (2013). This year, Ryan and fellow pianist Dr. Connor O’Kane will be performing these sonatas at several venues in Ontario.
Beyond academic life, Ryan is Music Director and Organist at Rowntree Memorial United Church in London, Ontario. Previously, he held the same positions at Trillium United Church in St. Catharines (2016-2021). He has worked as a teaching assistant, collaborative pianist, piano and theory instructor, festival adjudicator, in-classroom mathematics tutor, course facilitator, English teacher in Thailand, and in various other education-related positions. When Ryan is not practicing, writing, or working, he can be found walking outside, gardening, gaming on his PC, cooking, baking, and applying to more programs. He is happy to be part of the Western musical community!
