Ryan Marvel The River of Calm

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Official website	https://ryanmarvel.com/

Ryan Marvel is a native of Colorado.  He began to tinker on the piano at a young age, watching his brother and grandmother play and recreate what he was hearing.  Once in lessons, he frustrated his early teachers as reading music seemed like a burden to him.  Eventually, he would come to know a teacher who understood individual creativity and taught him the value of reading to enhance arranging and composition.  

Ryan began to think about classical piano as a career through his high school years, studying with Patricia Weaver in Durango.  Responding to his desire to go to Julliard, his teacher would tell him“Great!  Get ready to give everything to the dream…and get ready to give everything else up…like basketball, tennis, skiing…”  Ryan reconsidered.  He continued to compose and arrange music and attended NAU in Flagstaff on a music scholarship.  At the time, it wasn’t a good fit for Ryan so he returned home to focus on composition.  

For the next several years, Ryan worked in the restaurant industry.   Days off were spent skiing and hiking and camping, and piano became more of a side pursuit.  While he found success in the business, he always felt that calling back to music.  In April 1999, he took a very part time job as a pianist at a small church in Chandler, AZ.  That decision would bring musical fulfillment back into Ryan’s life for good.