Eric Stokes Song Contest Winner Riona Ryan

Each year the winning songs from the Eric Stokes Song Contest are widely varied and always delightful. This year is no different! Today we shine the spotlight on 2015 youth winner Riona Ryan. Hear Riona's winning piece Shell this weekend at Zeitgeist's Playing it Close to Home concerts. 

Second-time youth winner Riona Ryan is an 18-year-old senior at the Perpich Center for Arts Education. She studies flute with Barbara Leibundguth and composition with Edie Hill, and she hopes to pursue a composition degree in the fall. Her current projects include a horn trio for the Schubert Club Mentorship and a solo EP, to be released this spring, in addition to collaborative projects. 

Her winning composition, Shell, is composed with a graphic score representing circular thought patterns associated with anxiety and stress. 

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I wrote this piece during an avalanche of college applications, homework, extracurriculars, late nights, and fear of the future. The circular form came out of the idea of the circular thought patterns associated with anxiety and stress. The graphic score form fit these feelings perfectly because the thoughts are not complex, but relatively unstructured and frantic. The title reflects not only the score’s appearance, but also the crunchy defensive feeling of inwardness caused by stress. 

The Eric Stokes Song Contest contest was designed to encourage and celebrate amateur composers throughout the Twin Cities. The winners receive a $100 prize and a one-year membership to the American Composers Forum, and their winning songs will be performed at Zeitgeist's annual Playing it Close to Home concerts. Charlie Lincoln (17) and two-time winner Riona Ryan (18) are the 2015 youth winners, and Käri Tweiten won the adult category. 

Playing it Close to Home

March 13-14, 7:30 p.m.  
Studio Z: 275 East Fourth Street, Suite 200, St. Paul

March 15, 2 p.m. 
Nazareth Chapel at University of Northwestern
3003 Snelling Ave. North, St. Paul

$10 Friday and Sunday 
$20 Saturday*
free Sunday for UNSP students
Tickets

With winning songs from our Eric Stokes Song Contest plus music by local composer Abbie Betinis, our annual Playing it Close to Home concert celebrates the wealth of musical creativity found right here in our own backyard. The program includes the world premiere of Betinis’s new work commissioned by Zeitgeist plus Nattsanger, her award-winning song cycle featuring guest soprano Alyssa Anderson. 

*Saturday’s performance includes wine, hors d'oeuvres, and a post-concert reception with Abbie Betinis.