in memory of ryan muncy

To our community,

It is with deep sadness that I write to share the news of Ryan Muncy’s passing.
Ryan’s monumental legacy as a performer, curator, and administrator enriched and transformed our field both nationally and internationally in profound ways.

Few saxophonists have contributed to the instrument’s repertoire and chamber music prominence as much as Ryan did during his lifetime. As a tireless advocate and commissioner of new music for saxophone, his unique combination of otherworldly virtuosity and exquisite sensibility captured the imagination of composers like Ash Fure, Tyshawn Sorey, Wang Lu, Marcos Balter, Steven Takasugi, Chaya Czernowin, George Lewis, Du Yun, Wojtek Blecharz, Anthony Cheung, Anna Thorvaldsdottir, Erin Gee, Nathan Davis, and Matana Roberts, among many others. His work emphasized collaborative relationships with composers and artists of his generation and aimed to reimagine the way listeners experience the saxophone through contemporary music. He participated in the creation of more than 100 new works for the instrument.

Praised for "superb" performances by The New York Times as well as his ability to "show off the instrument's malleability and freakish extended range as well as its delicacy and refinement" by The Chicago Reader, his spellbinding live performances and visionary discography earned him the admiration of both critics and audiences worldwide. Ryan was a founding member of Anubis Quartet, a multi-faceted chamber group that aimed to reshape the saxophone quartet genre. The quartet commissioned more than 40 new works and remains one of the few worldwide in which all four players performed regularly on the entire battery of saxophones. From 2010 to 2014, he was the Executive and Artistic Director of the Chicago-based Ensemble Dal Niente. Under his leadership, Dal Niente was named the first-ever ensemble recipient of the Kranichstein Music Prize, awarded at the 46th International Summer Courses for New Music in Darmstadt, Germany.

Having previously guest collaborated with the International Contemporary Ensemble in many projects during his time in Chicago, Ryan officially joined the organization in 2014 as a performer. He was also the Co-Director and co-creator of OpenICE, a program aimed at dissolving traditional barriers of exclusivity by providing a broader audience with interactive opportunities, not just through free performances but also with open workshops and conversations around the works being featured. A passionate educator, Ryan was also deeply involved in the ensemble’s educational initiatives with youth ensembles, public schools, community organizations, and academic institutions across the United States and Brazil. In 2015, Ryan also became our Director of Institutional Giving.

While Ryan will be remembered by many of you for his trailblazing artistry as a musician, I also want to make sure that he’s known as a stellar advocate for the work of living composers and radical performances through his grant writing. Ryan and I spoke last week about our plans and ideas for upcoming grants. Ryan was always keenly interested in understanding a foundations’ priorities and how those might align with our mission. He had the uncanny ability to embrace and internalize our projects and goals, and then to translate our vision into successful funding applications. Ryan’s stewardship of our institutional funding partners enabled us to take artistic risks as an organization, to remain stable during COVID, and to dream about the future of what we’ll perform on our world’s stages. It was a true honor to work closely with Ryan; there is an art to writing great grants that tell the story of an organization’s mission, and Ryan did that with the same commitment he brought to playing the saxophone and developing and interpreting the works of hundreds of today’s composers.

Composer and International Contemporary Ensemble board member Marcos Balter says:
“Ryan was more than a friend: he was my chosen brother, my confidant, my rock. Yes, he was a brilliant artist, one of the best saxophonists ever, a true trailblazer. But, that was just a minuscule fraction of all the wonderful things he was. He always had the key to my house, the only person besides my partner and I. We call our spare room Ryan’s room. It will take a long time to heal this awful void, but I am so thankful that he was such a huge part of my life. My love for him is eternal, and it comforts me to know that he absolutely knew that because I always said so when we spoke. He will forever have the key to my heart, even now while it’s broken.”

Claire Chase, the Ensemble’s Founder and Executive and Artistic Director Emeritus, adds:
“Our hearts are shattered over the loss of our brilliant, sparkling, golden-hearted Ryan. It is difficult to imagine our ensemble, and the wider world of new music, without him – without his beaming presence, his path-breaking musicianship, his glistening tone, his abundant mind, his fabulous wit, his humor, his laugh, his exuberant, overflowing smile. My heart goes out to all who knew and loved this radiant being, our shimmering, glittering star Ryan.”

From International Contemporary Ensemble flutist and vocalist Alice Teyssier:
“Ryan was one of the most beautiful people I have ever met. An absolute charmer, he prided himself on making the people around him feel valued, cherished, fabulous… in his words, “expensive”. This quality also pervaded his artistry: once he dedicated himself to a project, his entire self was in service to its uttermost execution. To me, this dedication also extended into our friendship, born at our simultaneous arrival in New York in 2014 and deepened over many years of co-habitation, collaboration, co-directorship of OpenICE, co-commissioning. He saw me, and let me see him; this was not always easy and the bumps in the road we encountered, in the end, served to forge a rare trust and love. I will forever cherish the ease and respect with which he engaged with children, from our young friends at the various youth orchestras we visited to my own two children; but this was how he lived: exuberant, intense, childlike, totally present. I like to imagine he’s up to some musical mischief in the Great Beyond with Pauline, Julius, Iannis…”

Artistic Director George Lewis, who has known Ryan for over a decade and worked with him extensively with both Ensemble Dal Niente and our Ensemble, says:
“I am stunned and greatly saddened to hear of Ryan’s sudden passing. He was an extraordinary artist whose artistry and virtuosity were fully matched by a good-hearted open-mindedness. Ryan could always be counted on to craft novel and trenchant solutions to difficult aesthetic and technical problems, all the while making the most radical saxophone techniques look entirely natural. He was universally admired as one of the most brilliant and versatile musicians of his generation, and he will be greatly missed.”

We would like to extend our deepest condolences to Ryan’s family – especially to his mother Denise Bowshier and his brother Nathan Muncy – and to his many dear friends worldwide during this unimaginably difficult time. May we all remember Ryan by his dedication, his friendship, his humor, his incredible wardrobe, and his hunger for growth and learning.

We are working on a public tribute to celebrate Ryan’s life. If you would like to contribute with a memory, photos, or videos, please fill out this Google form. We will follow up with you all once we have more details about memorial services to celebrate Ryan’s life.

On behalf of the musicians, board, and staff of the International Contemporary Ensemble,
Jennifer Kessler, Executive Director