Portland-born Egyptian-American composer Ryan Francis’s music first gained prominence in the mid-2000s through performer advocates such as Vicky Chow, whose incisive performances of his piano music brought the attention of composer John Zorn, who offered Francis a record release on his label, Tzadik.  Francis has written extensively for the solo piano,  and his music has been championed by numerous pianists including Vicky Chow, Conor Hanick, Anna Polonsky, Winston Choi, Julian Martin, Akimi Fukuhara, Jeffrey Payne, Monica Ohuchi, Kai Schumacher, Han Chen, David Kaplan, and Gabrielle Chou.  Other performers of Francis’s works include violinists Kristin Lee, Francesca Anderegg, Miranda Cuckson and Wayne Lee, sopranos Kiera Duffy and Neveen Alouba, clarinetist James Shields, and guitarists Joseph Ehrenpreis and Mattias Schulstad. Notable concert music commissions include High Linefor American Composers Orchestra, Concerto for Piano and Chamber Orchestra for Metropolis Ensemble, Sylvan for the Banff Centre, Akhet for the El Sakia String Orchestra, Nightwalk for Fear No Music Ensemble, Album for Guitar for Mattias Schulstad and Pittsburgh New Music Ensemble,  and Voynich Transcriptions for Chatter New Mexico. Francis has collaborated with New York’s Metropolis Ensemble for over a decade including numerous commissions and programming credits, most recently as a contributor to the infinite composition project Flame Keepers and as a co-curator of the Free Assembly online festival.  Other collaborations include two ballets with choreographer Pontus Lidberg, the video piece I AM NOT TAME with artist Nancy Davidson, the score for the video game Namco High with artist/writer Andrew Hussie, and a silent film score for Criterion. Francis’s music has received grants and awards including from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, the American Composers Forum, the Jerome Foundation, and the Augustine Foundation, and his music has been performed across the U.S. and internationally. Francis is on faculty at Pacific University where he teaches music technology, music theory, and international music studies.  He holds a B.M. in music composition from the University of Michigan and an M.M. and D.M.A. in music composition from the Juilliard School. 

A note from the composer about Sillage for Violin and Piano:

Sillage means "wake" in French, as in the billowing waves made as a boat cuts through water.  The term is also used by French perfumers in describing the trail of scent that someone leaves as they pass by. In that field, with scent tied so strongly to memory, sillage is meant to have slightly deeper connotations, suggesting that a person's presence can be felt after they are gone, for example by spending time in their old spaces or interacting with their possessions. My piece Sillagereflects on those moments of feeling the presence of someone who is not present.