Mr. Brown began his musical career in California, a son of a symphony conductor and a pianist. Following graduate studies at the Juilliard School in New York with the violin pedagogue Dorothy Delay and early music mentor Albert Fuller, Mr. Brown toured the U.S., Europe, and Japan as a chamber musician. As violinist with the Four Nations ensemble, he made six critically acclaimed recordings for the London-based Gaudeamus label. With Four Nations he also collaborated with several regional orchestras including the Santa Rosa, California, Amarillo, Texas, and Jacksonville, Florida symphonies, leading programs of baroque and classical repertoire from the violin. As artistic director of The Redwoods Summer Music Festival, he conducted the festival’s chamber orchestra in repertoire of the 18^th, 19^th, and 20^th centuries. After moving to Washington D.C., Mr. Brown founded Opera Lafayette, and decided soon after to devote his full attentions to conducting. One of a select group of international students accepted into the conducting class of the eminent Gustav Meier at the Peabody Institute, he studied the orchestral repertoire and also assisted with productions of Bizet’s Carmen and Verdi’s Il Trovatore with The Baltimore Opera. Shortly thereafter he was engaged by the Maryland Opera Studio to conduct performances of Rossini’s Barber of Seville and Cimarosa’s Il Matrimonio Segreto.

Believing that the 17^th and 18^th century were fertile ground for the rediscovery and reinterpretation of masterpieces not yet in the standard repertoire of major companies, Mr. Brown chose to commit Opera Lafayette to a path of performing the operas of Lully, Rameau, and Gluck. Performances of Acis et Galatée, Pygmalion, and Orphée et Euridice were greeted with glowing acclaim. Gluck’s Orphée et Euridice became Opera Lafayette’s debut CD for Naxos, beginning a collaboration which has brought the conductor and ensemble international recognition and praise. With Opera Lafayette Mr. Brown has also conducted the Washington premiere of several major lyric tragedies, including Rameau's Hippolyte et Aricie, about which The Washington Post wrote “Brown’s conducting was both fluid and formal; although he has clearly studied the score assiduously, he seemed to be discovering the riches of Rameau with his audience, sharing our delight in their long unfolding.” Lully’s Armide, recorded for release by Naxos in 2008, soon followed, as well as a fully staged performance of Gluck’s own Armide.

The success of these revivals of operas by major French composers of the 17^th and 18^th century led Mr. Brown to the rediscovery of masterpieces by their lesser known contemporaries. Opera Lafayette’s recording of Sacchini’s Oedipe à Colone, released in 2006 by Naxos, was hailed by Music Web International as “one of the more thrilling ‘finds’ in the operatic genre.” Mr. Brown and Opera Lafayette have now embarked on a three year project to record and perform several modern American premieres of early French opera in Washington D.C. and New York City. Of the first presentation, Rebel and Francoeur's opera ballet Zélindor, roi des Sylphes, The New York Times said “The group’s conductor, Ryan Brown, created a performing edition of a piece that appears, before its premiere in Washington this month, not to have been played since the 18^th century, and he conducted it with such spirit that it seemed he might join in the dancing….Opera Lafayette has just recorded the work for release in 2009. Fans of early music should seek it out.” The second presentation, of the brilliant and influential opera comique Le Déserteur by Monsigny, will occur in early 2009.

Mr. Brown’s interest in the French repertoire led Opera Lafayette to perform Mozart’s Idomeneo in collaboration with the New York Dance Company, a critical success praised for its fresh approach and for highlighting the French origins of this masterpiece. Mr. Brown was subsequently invited to conduct an English version The Abduction from the Seraglio in California. Turning his attention to Mozart’s great collaborations with Da Ponte, Mr. Brown then created a program entitled “The Genesis of Don Giovanni,” placing Mozart’s music next to those of Don Giovanni’s influential predecessors. Mr. Brown’s other work with the Italian repertoire has included performances of Haydn’s Il Mondo della Luna. His performances of English repertoire have included Purcell’s The Fairy Queen and King Arthur, as well as Handel’s Acis and Galatea and, in 2009, L’Allegro ed il Pensieroso.

Mr. Brown’s educational endeavors have included seminars on French music for the Smithsonian Institution and talks for other organizations on style and opera, as well the preparation of editions of 18th century operas for performance and publication. Mr. Brown has also been a panelist for the National Endowment for the Arts. He spends his leisure time on a family ranch in southwestern Colorado.