Kiegan Ryan is a citizen of the Cherokee Nation, a cellist, and a composer of contemporary classical music. He composes chamber music, art song, opera, orchestral music, and film scores. Kiegan had his compositional debut with the Oklahoma Virtuosi Chamber Orchestra in 2022 with Kanohelvsgi, written for String Orchestra. In the spring of 2026, Kiegan will make his soloist and compositional debut with the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra in a concert featuring his Cherokee song cycle, Cherokee song cycle ᎧᏃᎮᎸᏍᎩ ᏧᏂᎶᏒᎯ Kanohelvsgi Tsunilosvhi (songs from where they journeyed from), and a newly written concerto for Cedar flute and orchestra performed by Mark Billy. 

In October 2025, Kiegan made his mainstage debut with the Philharmonic in the Classics Series, in a concert entitled Oklahoma Stories: Celebrating our future. In this concert, he will perform his original composition Kiowa Six as the cello soloist. 

Kiegan is a commissioned composer for the North American Indigenous Songbook initiative and will premiere his composition in New York. Kiegan recently composed a song cycle on the writings of Cherokee Chief Wilma Mankiller that premiered in March 2025 at the Juilliard School. 

Kiegan is the lead cello instructor at El Sistema Oklahoma- a non-profit that provides free music opportunities five days a week after school during the school year to students attending Oklahoma City Public Schools. 

Kiegan has had performances at National Sawdust, Juilliard, Lincoln Center, and Yellowstone’s All Nations Teepee Village. He has had works performed by Opera Montana, Oklahoma City Philharmonic, 48-hour Film Festival, North American Indigenous Songbook, Schubert Club, and the Victory Players at MIFA Victory Theatre. 

He grew up in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, and is currently completing his graduate degree in composition and cello performance from Oklahoma City University, studying with Edward Knight and Emily Stoops. 

You may follow Kiegan on Instagram @kig.wizard_

and “Kiegan Ryan” on Facebook.