Bio

David Ryshpan is a Canadian pianist, keyboardist, composer, arranger & DJ. Born in Toronto, he developed an interest in jazz music at an early age. By age 14, he was regularly performing solo piano matinées at Toronto’s The Rex. His path led to Montreal, where he graduated from the McGill University Jazz Performance program. His original compositions for his first group, Indigone Trio, led Irwin Block of the Montreal Gazette to call him “young, talented, and full of ideas.”

Over the past twenty years, David has become a fixture in Montreal’s global music community. In addition to his own projects as leader – the Brazilian-focused Trio Bruxo and the song cycle Alicuanta – he has become an active sideman alongside a great breadth of artists. Notably, he has toured across the planet alongside Haitian hip-hop ambassador Vox Sambou. He is a recent member of Kleztory as well as OktoEcho‘s Transcestral project, which fuses Indigenous music from Turtle Island with Moroccan Sufi devotional music.

Ryshpan has developed a particular notoriety in the Brazilian music community at large, having toured with samba-rock icon Jorge Ben Jor and recorded on Cézar Mendes’ highly praised debut album (co-produced by Marisa Monte & Mario Caldato Jr). He is an in-demand accompanist for Brazilian artists in Montreal, including Rommel and Lara Klaus.

David also works with artists in the domains of dance and visual art. His journey into this universe began with his commission by the 2009 Biennale de Montreal to compose “Dancing Serpent in Dawn’s Quiet,” based on a painting by artist Rick Leong, for their Soundscapes/Paysages sonores initiative. He has cultivated a longstanding collaboration with fellow improvisers Michael Reinhart & Jérémi Roy with movement artist Lin Snelling across four acclaimed multidisciplinary works. He is also the sound designer/composer for visual artist Christine Comeau‘s award-winning experimental film, Le dépouillement de l’anguille (The Skinning of the Eel).