Regan Ryzuk (born Regan Onufry Ryzuk, March 29, 1955, New York) is an American composer and pianist. Ryzuk is the son of renowned painter, Onufry Ryzuk and published author and playwright, Mary S. Ryzuk, PhD. He is the elder of two children.
A graduate from Montville Township High School in Montville, New Jersey in 1973, [1] Ryzuk studied with Robert Helps at Manhattan School of Music and attended The Juilliard School. [2] Ryzuk's classical music studies led to jazz studies with Jaki Byard and Sir Roland Hanna. At Juilliard, he studied music theory and composition.
During the 1980s, Ryzuk toured with various ballet companies – traveling through Europe and Latin America. [3] This period enabled him to develop his improvisational techniques, which later laid the groundwork for one of his greatest compositional works,"48 Preludes and Fugues." Composed in the style Johann Sebastian Bach, Ryzuk developed "48 Preludes and Fugues" over the course of a year while living in Switzerland. [4]
Upon his return to the United States in 1991, Ryzuk lived in New York and continued his compositional work. He developed a base of students, including Fountains of Wayne co-founder, Adam Schlesinger. Ryzuk periodically returned to Europe to study and develop compositions; for example he lived in Germany in 1994, where he wrote "Piano Fantasy in D♭," and made fairly frequent trip to London between 2000 and 2005 while writing a musical based on Jack the Ripper.
Around the year 2000 Ryzuk became a founding partner in a TV/film music production company known as SOUNDGUILD, which operated for approximately ten years. Ryzuk's work from this period is featured in over 500 television and movie projects through his work with Zomba Music, [5] including Kissing Jessica Stein , Chasing Papi, The Night Listener, 60 Minutes , and American Idol . He also provided music for Extreme Music Library, LTD.
Ryzuk collaborated on a number of musicals with mother Mary S. Ryzuk, including some of Grimm's Fairy Tales [6] and a full-length, fully orchestrated musical based on the novel The Lodger. [7] The musical was initially titled Jack the Ripper, then was changed to share the name of the novel The Lodger, before finally receiving in current title, "Hunt:A Musical Thriller." Ryzuk also wrote the music and the book for Joe's Bar, with additional lyrics by Mary S. Ryzuk. [8]
In about 1995, Ryzuk co-founded the theater company Enchanted Players, [9] which operated until 2010. When the theater company moved to the Darress Theatre in Boonton, New Jersey [10] in 2008, Ryzuk became Composer in Residence for the theater until the Enchanted Players became inactive.
Epi-Cycles Beyond The Kuiper Belt (A Fugue For Large String Orchestra)