Ronald Royer is a prominent Canadian composer with numerous performances, commissions and commercial recordings. His compositions have been performed throughout Canada, Austria, the Czech Republic, Finland, Germany, Italy, Lithuania, Mexico and the United States by leading soloists, ensembles and over forty orchestras.
Recent commissions include grants by the Canada Council for the Arts to compose Sinfonia Concertante for Piano Trio and Orchestra (the Gryphon Trio and the Mississauga Symphony), Mirage for Orchestra (Mississauga Symphony) and Water and Light, Fireworks at the Falls for Orchestra (Niagara Symphony). As well, Mr. Royer received a Laidlaw Foundation grant to compose Travels with Mozart for Chamber Orchestra (Jyvaskyla Sinfonia of Finland, Toronto Sinfonietta, International Symphony of Canada/USA, Peterborough Symphony, and Scarborough Philharmonic).
Recordings include the recently internationally released Storyteller’s Bag by the Children’s Group and The Nightingale’s Rhapsody with Clarinetist Jerome Summers and The Thirteen Strings of Ottawa by Cambria Master Recordings (California) as well as recordings by the Bohuslav Martinu Philharmonic (Czech Republic), the Toronto Sinfonietta, and cellist Simon Fryer with pianist Lydia Wong.
Born in Los Angeles into a family of professional musicians, Ronald Royer began his career as a cellist, performing with such ensembles as the Utah Symphony, Pacific Symphony and Toronto Symphony, as well as working in the Motion Picture and Television Industry in Los Angeles during the 1980’s. Mr. Royer began serious studies in composition in the 1990’s, receiving a Master’s Degree in Composition from the University of Toronto in 1997. In June 2004, he became the Composer-in-Residence for the Orchestras Mississauga supported by a residency grant from the Canada Council for the Arts. Mr. Royer is an associate composer of the Canadian Music Centre and works as an Instructor of Music for the University of Toronto Schools. He is married to clarinetist Kaye Royer, who has been an inspiration for his clarinet writing.
