Ryan Simmons began playing in the San Diego Symphony in 1998 after graduating from the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. In the 2001-2002 season he played in the Los Angeles Philharmonic as Associate Principal Bassoon, then spent two seasons as Principal Bassoonist of the Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra. In 2004 he won the national audition for the job of Second Bassoon in the San Diego Symphony and began playing as Principal Bassoon of Orchestra Nova San Diego. He has studied with a few of the legendary bassoon teachers including Bernard Garfield, Steven Maxym and Norman Herzberg. He has played and participated in many festivals including Marlboro, Tanglewood, National Repertory Orchestra, Mainly Mozart and La Jolla SummerFest. He has also performed with the National Symphony Orchestra, the Orchestra Philarmonica de Tenerife and the Moscow Radio Orchestra.
In addition to performing, Ryan Simmons is the owner of RS Woodwinds, a woodwind repair shop. He has worked on several of the instruments played by the members of the San Diego Symphony as well as their students’ instruments. He is certified to install Straubinger pads in flutes and clarinets, and has very successfully repaired most of the top makes of woodwind instruments including: Brannen, Powell and Haynes flutes, Heckel and Pucner bassoons, Loree oboes, Buffet clarinets and bass clarinets, vintage Selmer saxophones and various modern Irish flutes and chanters.