Musicologist

Ray will receive his PhD in musicology from Claremont Graduate University on May 15, 2010. He was awarded a valuable CGU Dissertation Grant in 2007-08. In 2005-06 he was recognized as a "Student in the Spotlight," and he received the Fernandez Prize in Music in 2004. He has presented papers at several conferences: at the 2006 joint conference of the Historic Brass Society and the Internationale Gesellschaft zur Erforschung und Förderung der Blasmusik (IGEB).in Northfield, Minnesota; at the 2007 Historic Brass Society conference in Paris, France ("Paris: The Factory of Ideas"); at the 2009 joint conference of the Galpin Society and the Historic Brass Society in London and Edinburgh ("Making the British Sound"); and at the 2009 inaugural BRaSS Trumpet Forum at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in Glasgow. Ray's article, "Brass Chamber Music in Circuit Chautauqua, 1904 to c.1930," was published in 2008 in IGEB's journal, Alta Musica (vol. 26), and his article, "The Paris Factor: French Influence on Brass Chamber Music, 1840-1930," was recently published online by the Cite de la Musique in Paris. To view articles from the 2009 Paris conference, click here, then navigate to the article of your choice.

Educator

Ray is currently Instructor of Natural Trumpet at Claremont Graduate University and Instructor of Trumpet at Pomona College. He formerly taught for more than ten years each at Occidental College, Pasadena City College, and Glendale College, garnering particular notice for his successful big bands at each institution and for the Chamber Opera program at Pasadena City College. He has presented master classes in colleges and universities in Southern California, Oregon, and Iowa. He also has taught brass chamber music, collegium musicum, harmony, and musicianship and served in sabbatical substitute positions at Occidental and Pomona Colleges.

Composer

Ray has received thirteen consecutive ASCAP awards and is a two-time First Prize winner of the Humboldt State University Brass Chamber Music Workshop Composition Contest. He has composed for orchestra, band, choir, big band, and chamber ensembles and has over 80 works in publication through his company, Premiere Press. His compact disc, Watercolor Menagerie, features 14 of his works recorded by the Premiere Brass Quintet. If you need more information about Ray or his compositions, please make contact.

Conductor

Ray recently served as Conductor of the Pomona College Orchestra in Claremont, California in performances of music by Mendelssohn, Chopin, and Dukas. He has previously conducted the Pasadena Pops Orchestra, the Burbank Symphony, the Pasadena City College Chamber Opera, and the Pasadena Young Musicians Orchestra. He served as Music Director of the Tehachapi Community Orchestra and has conducted collegiate and community concert bands in Southern California, Oregon, and Ohio. His conducting teachers include Jorge Mester, Daniel Lewis, Harold Farberman, Gustav Meier, David Loebel, and John Farrer.