Born on St Cecilia’s day, the British counter-tenor Ryland Angel has built an international reputation on both the opera and concert stage, in repertoire ranging from the Baroque to new operatic commissions at major opera houses, concert halls and festivals throughout Europe and the USA.
Recent operatic engagements include Radamistoat St. Louis Opera Theater, Agrippina for New York City Opera, Tolomeo with Muziektheater Transparant, Semele with Cologne Opera,Rodelinda at the Carre Theatre in Amsterdam,Julius Caesar at Utah Opera and Opera Colerado,Il Sant Alessio on tour with Les Arts Florissants at the Lincoln Center New York, Cité de la Musique in Paris and the Barbican Centre in London, Il Ritorno d’Ulisse in Patria for Toulouse Opera with Christophe Rousset (also in Paris and Lepizig),Theodora with Graeme Jenkins at Dallas Opera, Handel’s La Resurrezione with Ars Lyrica, Monteverdi’s Orfeo with Boston Early Music Festival, the title role in Stradellas’ San Giovanni Battista at The Italian Academy in New York with Artek, Israel in Egypt with Princeton Glee Club,Acis and Galatea at Hobby Center Houston andDoux Mensonges at the Opéra National de Paris Palais Garnier with William Christie.
He has also performed at English National Opera in London (Monteverdi’s Orfeo, Purcell’s The Fairy Queen and the world premiere of Gavin Bryars’Doctor Ox’s Experiment), the Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona (The Fairy Queen), Flanders Opera (Venus and Adonis), Opéra Comique, Paris(Dido and Aeneas), Opéra Normandie (Peri’sEuridice), Geneva Opera (Ballet Comique de la Royne), Koblenz (Gluck’s Orfeo), Karslruhe Handel Festival (Amadigi), Spoleto Festival, Italy(The Play of Daniel), and Florentine and Lyric Opera of Kansas City (A Midsummer Night’s Dream). On the concert platform Ryland Angel has performed Carmina Buranae at the Lincoln Center in New York and Southbank Centre in London, St. John Passion with St. Thomas’ Church, Houston Bach Society and Boulder Bach Society, The Messiah with the Händel and Haydn Society of Boston, St. Thomas’ Church, Worcester Chorus, Masterworks Chorus, Singapore Symphony Orchestra and Musica Sacra at Carnegie Hall.
He has performed with many acclaimed conductors and early music ensembles including William Christie, Rene Jacobs, Ivor Bolton, Nicholas McGegan, Roy Goodman, Christophe Rousset, Philippe Herreweghe, Christophe Coin, Gabriel Garrido, Cantus Koln, Le Concert Spirituel, Le Parlement de Musique, the Ensemble of Early Music of New York, Ensemble La Fenice, Les Folies Françaises, and the Philharmonia Baroque of San Francisco.
Ryland Angel has created roles in many world premieres including most recently Spears’ Wolf in Skins (Philadelphia), the title role in Tesla in New York written by Phil Kline and the film director Jim Jarmusch at Hopkins Center, Dartmouth and new work by Tarik O’Regan and Gregory Spears’ for a project with Opera New Jersey/American Opera Projects.
In 2006 Ryland Angel received a Grammy nomination. He has performed on over 50 recordings including music by Charpentier, Scarlatti, Stradella, Lorenzani, Peri, Händel, Monteverdi, Beaujoyeux, Purcell, Bach, Spears, Rosenmuller, Bobby Mcferrin (EMI, Universal, Sony, K317, Koch, Virgin Classics).
New recordings include Freud und Lust(Buxtehude/Bach), Rosenmuller Cantatas with Artek, The Colonna Vespers with Houston Chamber choir, Heart and Soul (Krieger and Erlebach) with Ars Lyrica, A Grateful Tail by Steven Mercurio based on the poem by Eugene O'Neill and The Flaming Fire (16th century music from Scotland and England) with the viol consort Parthenia.
Ryland Angel composed the score and sang the title track of the forthcoming Warner Bros documentary film The Mystery of Dante. He also features on the film soundtracks of Le Petit Prince, La Peau, Henry 4th, Machete and the PBS TV special Heavenly Voices.

Ars Lyrica Houston is an ensemble dedicated to providing audiences with historically-informed performances, of the highest caliber, of music from the 17th and 18th centuries.
Founded in 1998 by harpsichordist and conductor Matthew Dirst and incorporated in 2003 as a 501(c)(3) organization, Ars Lyrica relies on a core group of Houston’s finest period-instrument musicians, which it augments regularly with internationally renowned guest artists. Ars Lyrica has created a distinctive identity among ensembles that specialize in Baroque music through its innovative programming: Artistic Director Dirst draws on a rich repertory of chamber and dramatic music, often highlighting exceptional works that merit revival. Its local subscription series is popular with audiences and critics alike, and its recordings have garnered international critical acclaim and recognition, including a Grammy nomination for Best Opera 2011.
Since 2000 Houston’s classical music scene has expanded significantly, with period-instrument groups now thriving in the local community and an annual Houston Early Music Festival attracting national attention. Ars Lyrica Houston (ALH) has played a leading role in this transformation—which connects local audiences to a priceless musical heritage—through its diverse concert, recording, and outreach activities. ALH offers a broad range of music from the 17th and 18th centuries in local subscription series of six programs annually, several of which also tour to nearby venues. The organization’s growing list of commercial recordings have earned a Grammy nomination and have brought international attention to Houston as an early music center.
ALH offers an annual subscription series at the Hobby Center for the Performing Arts as well as touring, special event, and outreach programs to underserved communities. Zilkha Hall at the Hobby Center is an ideal home base for ALH subscription programs because of its central location, intimate size, warm natural acoustics, and expert support staff. Season programming at Zilkha Hall is typically organized around a broad central theme, which individual programs examine from a variety of angles. Over the last decade Ars Lyrica has toured its subscription programs throughout greater Houston, including venues in Spring, Cypress, Jersey Village, Pasadena, College Station, and Bryan, TX. ALH also partners frequently with other Texas- based non-profits (choral and dance groups, for example) on large-scale programs like Baroque oratorios and operas. An ongoing partnership with the Museum of Fine Arts has resulted in a number of programs at MFAH facilities (including Bayou Bend and Rienzi) that complement visual art exhibitions. Ars Lyrica’s appearances at major early music festivals (Boston in 2011, Berkeley in 2014) draw international attention to Houston as a center of period-instrument performance.

First American to win major international prizes in both organ and harpsichord, including the National Guild of Organists Young Artist Competition and the Warsaw International Harpsichord Competition. Widely admired for his stylish playing and conducting, the Dallas Morning News recently praised his “crisp but expressive direction” of the Monteverdi 1610 Vespers while naming this performance “Best Classical Performance of 2010.” Dirst’s recordings of music by Scarlatti and Hasse with Ars Lyrica, have earned a Grammy nomination (for Best Opera 2011) and widespread critical acclaim. His degrees include a PhD in musicology from Stanford University and the prix de virtuosité in both organ and harpsichord from the Conservatoire National de Reuil-Malmaison, France, where he spent two years as a Fulbright scholar. Equally active as a scholar, his book Engaging Bach: The Keyboard Legacy from Marpurg to Mendelssohn was published in 2012 by Cambridge University Press.