Ryan Davis | Radia

“A violist unlike any other” (Stir Vancouver), Ryan Davis has emerged as a singular creative force, moving fluidly between the worlds of classical performance, contemporary music, improvisation, and electronic music. As a composer-performer under the moniker Radia, Davis unifies his extensive classical training with inspiration from folk, electronic, and hip-hop music, redefining the viola’s profile and exploring its possibilities as both a traditional and technologically expanded instrument. An “electronic Wunderkind” (OperaRamblings), his work has been featured at venues and festivals across North America, including Toronto’s Koerner Hall, Vancouver’s Chan Centre, Los Angeles’s Skid Row, and the 21C Music Festival at The Royal Conservatory of Music, as well as by The Violin Channel and ABC Channel 7 News LA.

Davis is currently Assistant Professor of Viola at the University of British Columbia’s School of Music in Vancouver. This season, Davis makes his debut with the Regina Symphony Orchestra and returns to the Saskatoon Symphony Orchestra, where he previously served as an Artistic Partner for the ensemble’s 2022–2023 season. His Artistic Partnership featured a performance of Cecil Forsyth’s rarely heard Viola Concerto in G Minor on opening night, as well as the premiere of Radia’s orchestration of Of Glow & Abandon, an original work for viola, electronics, and SSO musicians. His debut EP, Of Glow & Abandon, was released in 2021, with The WholeNote praising it for “showcasing multitudes of colours and possibilities, with much skill and imagination.”

Davis’s work as a composer-performer has led to collaborations across a diverse musical landscape. He has enjoyed a fruitful partnership with the Gryphon Trio, appearing with the ensemble in Halifax, Salt Spring Island, Toronto, Vancouver, and Victoria, including a nationally broadcast performance on CBC Radio’s In Concert. His compositions have been performed by artists including violinist Mayumi Seiler, violinist Kerry DuWors, and pianist Katherine Dowling, while his work has been featured as part of Winnipeg’s Groundswell series and on Seiler’s album Six Degrees. Davis has also performed strings with Grammy Award-winning artist Laufey for her Toronto performances at Massey Hall, and appeared on former Toronto Raptors forward and NBA Champion Serge Ibaka’s Instagram Live series How Talented Are You? Other recent highlights include a solo curation, Chromatophores, at the Banff Centre’s Evolution Classical festival; a featured performance of Christos Hatzis’s The Mega4 Meta4 at the 21C Music Festival; and appearances with the Gryphon Trio and vocalist Patricia O’Callaghan.

A passionate advocate for the viola as a leading voice in contemporary music, Davis has performed as a chamber musician with artists including Martin Beaver, Jonathan Crow, Steven Dann, Roberto Díaz, Mark Fewer, Matt Haimovitz, Charles-Richard Hamelin, Barbara Hannigan, Ernst Kovacic, Anthony Marwood, Johannes Moser, Marina Piccinini, Lara St. John, Yekwon Sunwoo, Andrew Wan, and Time For Three. He has also worked under conductors including Edo de Waart, John Adams, Gustavo Gimeno, Kent Nagano, Ludovic Morlot, Matthias Pintscher, Peter Oundjian, and Valery Gergiev. As a guest violist, he joined the Toronto Symphony Orchestra for tour performances at Carnegie Hall and the Chicago Symphony Center.

Davis’s orchestral career includes serving as principal violist of the Lucerne Festival Academy Orchestra and the Colburn Orchestra, with performances at KKL Luzern, the Kölner Philharmonie, and Hamburg’s Elbphilharmonie, as well as on tour in Scotland and Ireland. He has appeared at festivals including the Banff Centre, Chamberfest Ottawa, Festival of the Sound, McGill International String Quartet Academy, Montreal Chamber Music Festival, Music Toronto, Napa Valley Music Festival, Orford Arts Centre, and Toronto Summer Music Festival. He was named one of CBC Music’s “30 Hot Canadian Classical Musicians Under 30” in 2021 and was the first violist selected as a Rebanks Fellow in the Rebanks Family Fellowship & International Performance Residency Program in Toronto.

Beyond the concert stage, Davis is deeply committed to community engagement and creative entrepreneurship. His work with Street Symphony in Los Angeles’s Skid Row neighbourhood explored the role of music in building meaningful connections across communities. He also co-founded The Upnote, a media co-op and podcast exploring the experiences of young artists within an evolving music industry. After more than 50 episodes, The Upnote was selected as the Colburn School’s inaugural Entrepreneurs in Residence for the 2019–2020 academic year, and the team was awarded the Grand Prize at the New Venture Competition.

Davis completed music studies at McGill University, Yale University, and The Colburn School, studying with André Roy, Ettore Causa, and Paul Coletti, following foundational viola studies with James Legge.