If you are looking for the music producer/mixer + sound engineer from Cork, Ireland? That ain't me. You're looking for the other Ian Ring
Ian Ring
Composer
“Whatever the character, from dreamy sostenutos to quirky scherzos his music is full of life.”
William Moody, virtuoso pianist“What surprised me most was how many feelings it stirs up. It takes you on a journey, which I guess a good album is meant to do but this one really struck me that way.”
J. Hewitt, Amazon reviewer“Emotionally affecting and profound, this is a wonderful album.”
Garreth Brooke, composer & pianist“Ian Ring’s Temperance is a genuine delight to play, it starts off very simply before opening out into some wonderfully rich harmony.”
PianoDao, review of "Upright"“A surprising tenderness makes the entire album a delight to listen to.”
Donna Fung, author“An absolute joy and a pleasure to listen to.”
Chris Powell, music aficionado and environmental activist“Ian Ring is a gifted composer. His piano music is colourful, detailed, full of nuances and easy on the ear.”
William Moody, virtuoso pianist“Ian has done an exceptional job, expressing a great deal of archetypal quality in these short pieces [Opus Arcana].”
Ursula Rising, tarot expert“It's like being welcomed into paradise.”
William Moody, pianist & composer“All in all, this collection is a significant and valuable composition.”
Robert Cunningham, pianist“Excellent, reflective music”
B. Caughill, Amazon reviewerBio & CV
Ian's composition style evolved from origins in classical performance, shaped by a penchant for jazz arrangement and appreciation of popular alternative genres. Educated at The Beckett School and The University of Waterloo, now living and working in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada. Ian is a dedicated self-publisher, and diligently does all his own recording, audio engineering, music engraving, and publishing through his Stirling Music label.
Download entire press kit (ZIP) or grab the files individually.
Contributions / Collaborations / CV
Recording | Composition | Live performance | Other
- 2020-10-30 Interference, Ian Ring (solo). EP. Five instrumental impressions, ranging in mood from neo-ambient to low-fi shoegaze.
- 2019-01-21 Europa And The Pirate Twins, Ian Ring (solo). Single. Cover of a song by Thomas Dolby.
- 2018-11-07 Laughter And Forgetting, Ian Ring and Derek Hines. Single. Cover of a song by David Sylvian.
- 2018-07-13 Red Guitar, Ian Ring (solo). Single. Cover of a song by David Sylvian.
- 2018-06-01 STEM, Pieter Nooten. Piano on track 2 "Quarter Moon", and track 7 "Epicural".
- 2018-03-20 Opus Arcana, book of sheet music. Gala release party @ Jane Bond, Waterloo.
- 2018-02-15 Opus Arcana, album of recordings. 100% performed, produced, recorded by Ian Ring
- 2018-01-11 Care For The Child, OST. Remixed material from the film score. Inludes one song by The MacQueens.
- 2018-01-11 Care For The Child, film score. Premiered at Princess Cinema, Waterloo.
- 2016-08-18 Summary of the First Half, album of recordings. Compositions for solo piano composed 1998 - 2015. 100% performed, produced, recorded by Ian Ring.
- 2002 - 2003 Octopop. 80s new wave cover act. Meticulous recreations of retro hits on authentic period instruments. Only a few memorable live shows.
- 1999-02-16 Yet Another Sunday Date, Derek Hines. 6 tracks, piano.
- 1998-05-26 An Evening of Jazz ft Derek Hines and Ian Ring, a ticketed event at the Waterloo Theatre. Featuring an entire evening of custom arrangements for jazz band by Ian Ring.
- 1998-12-08 Cocktails at Pam's at the Waterloo Stage Theatre. Duet of Derek Hines and Ian Ring, a three-song lounge set which flowed straight into the dramatic play without interruption. Performed for the entire run of the production; directed by Brian VanNorman.
- 1996 - 2001 Derek Hines. Primary pianist and arranger for the legendary vocalist. Mostly jazz standards, a few originals. Many hundreds of gigs all over southwestern Ontario.
- 2007-06-29 The Vagabond Songs, Mike Alviano. Handclaps on track 6, "Onward".
- 1995 Giesbrecht And His Fab Orchestra Do A-go-go Hits, Chris Giesbrecht. Saxophone, Vocals, tuned beer bottles, etc.
- 1994 Urbojungabootie, The Dervishes. Saxophone, Vocals, Percussion, Vocoder, Sampler, all tracks.
- 1993 YTV Achievement Awards. Dervishes, winner in the Band category. Award ceremony in Ottawa, live performance on national television.
- 1993 Unwhirled, The Dervishes. Saxophone, all tracks.
- 1992 Incidental music for The Glass Menagerie, composed by Ian Ring and John Wrinch Williams. Sampler, keyboard, misc electronic instruments. Saxophone performed live.
- 1992 Fool. Commissioned for FreeFlow Dance Company, for choreography of the same name.
- 1990 Memory Gardens, An April March. Alto Saxophone, "Justine".
- 1990 - 1994 The Dervishes. Saxophonist, backup vocals, and misc instrumentation. Live band with a Heavy Funk sound. Many hundreds of live gigs around Southwestern Ontario.
- 1990 An April March. Saxophonist. Live "shoegaze pop" band with goth roots. Occasional live gigs around Kitchener, Waterloo, Toronto.
- 1989 - 1990 Random Order. Saxophonist. Power pop band with raggae + ska influences, featuring Lynx Dean. Based in Toronto, live gigs around Southwestern Ontario, primarily in Toronto.
Links & Profiles
Composed Works
Opus Arcana (2018)
22 works for solo piano inspired by the tarot
This ambitious project is a set of 22 pieces for solo piano, each inspired by a card of the Major Arcana.
The album features cover art by Vincent Marcone, and all 22 movements - completely produced, performed and engineered by Ian Ring.
Buy the album of recordings now! $24.99
The deluxe e-book of sheet music also features the cover by Vincent Marcone, along with a foreword written by Ursula Rising, a preface, and copious performance notes.
Buy the album of recordings + deluxe e-book of scores now! $35.00
Opus Arcana - Singles
 | 0 - Fool solo piano (03:36) | |||
 | I - Magician solo piano (02:12) | |||
 | II - High Priestess solo piano (05:06) | |||
 | III - Empress solo piano (02:43) | |||
 | IV - Emperor solo piano (03:05) | |||
 | V - Hierophant solo piano (02:31) | |||
 | VI - Lovers solo piano (04:20) | |||
 | VII - Chariot solo piano (03:10) | |||
 | VIII - Strength solo piano (02:42) | |||
 | IX - Hermit solo piano (03:11) | |||
 | X - Wheel Of Fortune solo piano (03:36) | |||
 | XI - Justice solo piano (02:56) | |||
 | XII - Hanged Man solo piano (02:48) | |||
 | XIII - Death solo piano (03:26) | |||
 | XIV - Temperance solo piano (03:17) | |||
 | XV - Devil solo piano (02:03) | |||
 | XVI - Tower solo piano (02:49) | |||
 | XVII - Star solo piano (04:02) | |||
 | XVIII - Moon solo piano (03:42) | |||
 | XIX - Sun solo piano (02:56) | |||
 | XX - Judgement solo piano (02:26) | |||
 | XXI - World solo piano (04:41) |
Care For The Child OST (2018)
Soundtrack and score for the indie documentary, "Care For The Child: The Story of the Bridgeport General", directed by Rob Ring. Released 2018
Care for the Child - Singles
 | Bridgeport Rag solo piano (01:55) | |||
 | Sintown trumpet, piano, bass, drums (04:53) | |||
 | A General's Duty (03:31) | |||
 | Outsider piano, organ, bass, bowed waterphone (03:26) | |||
 | Annexed piano, bass, drums (04:26) | |||
 | Hope Is Lost cello, piano (02:44) | |||
 | The General Is Dead (02:53) | |||
 | Long Live The General (04:29) | |||
 | Sintown: Reprise (05:42) | |||
 | My Purpose Is Gone (02:26) | |||
 | A Childhood Lost (01:53) | |||
 | Bridgeport Rag Revisited (02:43) |
Summary of the First Half (2016)
Selected works for solo piano from 1998 - 2015
Collection of piano solo pieces composed between 1998 and 2015. Released 2016.
Summary of the First Half - Singles
 | Elusory Moment solo piano (02:38) | |||
 | Long Path To Hopeful Horizons solo piano (02:32) | |||
 | Montgomery Dusk solo piano (02:22) | |||
 | Still Pool In Sacred Woods solo piano (03:44) | |||
 | The Healing Begins solo piano (03:23) | |||
 | Discarding Nostalgia solo piano (01:45) | |||
 | Requiem For Jackie solo piano (03:28) | |||
 | Murmuration solo piano (02:24) |
Other / Unpublished
 | Gnossienne Minuscule no.1 solo piano (01:22) | |||
 | Old Rain (Fool) solo piano (02:21) |
Other Recordings
Interference (EP)
Five instrumental impressions of 2020
Recorded in the three years preceding, released October 31, 2020. Cover photograph by Siddalee Ring. Funded on Kickstarter.
Europa And The Pirate Twins (Single)
A jazzy cover of the new wave classic by Thomas Dolby
Pieter Nooten - STEM
Collaboration on two tracks: "Epicural" and "Quarter Moon"
In late 2016, Pieter Nooten and I began collaborating on some prototype songs for his next album for Rocket Girl Records. He sent me a rough mix of several works in progress; I added piano and send the files back; then we'd share feedback and iterate. We even experimented with adding lyrics and vocals to some! In the end, STEM was an instrumental album, expertly mixed by Stephen W Tayler, including two of those collaborations: track 2 "Quarter Moon", and track 7 "Epicural".
Laughter And Forgetting (Single)
A jazzy cover of the classic by David Sylvian
Recorded in late October 2018, released November 7, 2018. Featuring Derek Hines on vocals.
Red Guitar (Single)
A jazzy cover of the classic by David Sylvian
Other Projects
The Exciting Universe Of Music Theory
More than you probably ever need to know
A deep look at scales, using computer processing to analyze every possible combination of tones. Topics include: symmetry, truncations, chirality, imperfection, interval spectra, proximity and modes.
Peruse the YouTube channel with over 1400 videos showing the properties of specific musical scales.
Star Dots
A new standard for notating quintuple durations
A new notation standard for notes and rests encompassing 5 rhythmic subdivisions.
Press
-
Garreth Brooke’s “Upright” Project - PianoDao, 2018-06-02
reviewing a compendium of music featuring "Temperance" from Opus Arcana -
Pieter Nooten – Stem - FREQ, 2018-06-01
a review of Pieter's album, specifically mentioning my piano contributions - The Bridgeport General finally gets his due on the big screen - Waterloo Chronicle, 2018-01-22
- Astonishing response to made-in-Waterloo doc - The Record, 2018-01-05
- Opus Arcana - The Music Times, 2018-01-01
- Composer Embarks on Legacy Project - Kitchener Post, 2015-07-09
- Local Composer To Create Piano Scores Based On Tarot Cards - Kitchener Citizen, 2015-07-09
- Beginning A New Project: Opus Arcana - The Music Times, 2015-11-01
-
Cocktails at Pam's - Stage Door, 1998-12-01
a review of "Cocktails At Pam's", featuring Derek Hines and Ian Ring, Waterloo Theatre. -
Cocktails at Pam's - Imprint, 1998-12-02
another review of "Cocktails at Pam's". -
Scat Sisters and B-Bop brothers - Imprint, 1998-06-01
a review of Derek Hines and Ian Ring at the Waterloo Theatre -
Unwhirled (Review) - Imprint, 1993-10-22
a review of Dervishes' Unwhirled album -
Magic Menagerie - Cord, 1992-09-17
a review of The Glass Menagerie, which featured an original score composed by Ian Ring and John W Williams
