Ryan Townsend Strand

Ryan Townsend Strand is a Minnesota native whose “beautiful vocalism” (San Francisco Chronicle) and “expressive poise” (Chicago Classical Review) have afforded him an expanding career as a concert and oratorio soloist. Strand most recently was a featured soloist performing Beethoven’s 9th Symphony with the Illinois Philharmonic. Strand made his professional Chicago opera debut in Haymarket Opera Company’s production of Alessandro Scarlatti’s Gli equivoci nel sembiante (Armindo). Other operatic productions include Handel’s Beauty’s Truth (Pleasure) & Così fan tutte (Ferrando) with Transgressive Theater Opera; 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.

Strand commissioned and premiered Letters to Jackie, a newly conceived song cycle based on the letters sent to Jacqueline Kennedy by the American people following the assassination of her husband. The song cycle represents the collective grief of a nation and the power of community and healing in a time of great tragedy and has recently been released on Sono Luminus Records.