Ryan Youens – Arranger

Ryan Youens is a music arranger and copyist with fifteen years experience working with composers, ensembles, publishers and musicians. He works regularly with leading orchestras around the world. He has produced music for ensembles such as the London Metropolitan Orchestra, Budapest Scoring Orchestra, Dutch Radio Chamber Orchestra and Sydney SYNTHONY Orchestra; for composers such as Victoria Kelly, Rhian Sheehan, Wlad Mahulets and Anthony Ritchie; publishers such as G. Schirmer and Massey University Press; events such as the Rugby World Cup and Pan-Arab Games; on movies such as The Hobbit ‘An Unexpected Journey’ and ‘The Desolation of Smaug’; and has prepared music for the music stands at numerous scoring stages including Abbey Road.

Ryan has a masters degree in composition from the NZ School of Music, and as a composer is regularly commissioned, he is passionate about the concept and method that underpins SYNTHONY ’s success.

Dick Johnson

As a teenager Dick Johnson landed a residency at Manchester’s legendary Hacienda Club where he honed his house sound until it’s closure in 1997. Before long he was producing tracks for Cream’s Olympic label, New Order’s Pleasure Recordings and Manchester’s Paper Recordings collective, and had set up his own record label Shaboom , which went on to do over 100 releases from the likes of Joeski, Fred Everything, Doc Martin and DJ Sneak.

As well as his own solo productions, Dick has remixed international artists Fatboy Slim, Crookers, Claude Von Stroke, DJ Sneak, Ian Pooley, Worthy, Crazy P, Bassnectar, Fred Everything, The Human League as well as Kiwi artists L.A.B, Theia, The Naked & Famous and Tiki Taane to name a few. Based in Auckland, New Zealand and with a long standing (15 years) weekly show on local radio station George Fm , Dick continues a busy DJ schedule and it’s a rare weekend indeed that he is not behind the decks electrifying a crowd of dedicated followers and testing his tunes on dance floors around New Zealand and beyond.

The Duco Team

Duco are the presenters of Synthony and the shows driving force. Duco Events, established 14 years ago by Founding Director David Higgins, has a considerable track record of establishing and promoting global events, with the company now being one of the Asia-Pacific’s most entrepreneurial and prominent promotional companies.

 

David Higgins – Founding Director

A decade and a half ago David Higgins was an Auckland University graduate with big ideas and precious little capital. Today he is a director of the Asia Pacific’s most prominent and successful events company — Duco Events. Since founding Duco Events in 2004, David has played a leading role in establishing many of the regions most iconic events.

David’s entrepreneurial spirit has seen him build the career of world heavyweight boxer Joseph Parker, and in doing so, play an instrumental role in establishing New Zealand’s pay per view sports television market. David has also raised several million dollars for charitable causes while hosting major speaking events headlined by the likes of Sir Richard Branson, Andre Agassi, Al Gore and Sir Bob Geldof. With New Zealand’s events potential yet to be fully unlocked, David sees his achievements so far as merely the tip of the iceberg.