Emily will be sharing her journey to her role as Director/Conductor. There will be question and answers after her presentation.
The mission of the Mission Chamber Orchestra (MCOSJ) is to present professional level performances of classical music in such a way as to encourage the growth of classical music audiences.
Please R.S.V.P. by January 11 joyade88@aol.com
About Emily Ray
Currently the Music Director and conductor of the Mission Chamber Orchestra of San Jose, Emily Ray’s inspired performances are earning her a growing reputation throughout California as an extremely gifted and creative conductor. Her recent concerts have earned standing ovations and enthusiastic praise from musicians and critics alike.
Prior to her term in San Jose, Ms. Ray was the Music Director of the Nova Vista Symphony for several years. She also conducted the Lo Sospiro Ensemble while serving with the Hayward Area Symphony. A great advocate for new music, throughout her career she has promoted and premiered the works of many California composers, as well as those of composers living in other parts of the U.S., in England, and in China.
Ms. Ray began her musical studies at the age of 7 when she began taking piano lessons and later studied the violin. Participating in numerous recitals and performing groups, she continued her study of music in college, receiving a Master of Arts degree from California State University at Hayward after graduating with highest honors from the University of California, Berkeley. She studied conducting with Michael Senturia and Denis deCoteau and made her conducting debut with the University Symphony at Calif. State University, Hayward in May, 1975. Later she studied with Gunther Schuller at the Conductor Institute at Sandpoint.
In 1996 Ms. Ray formed the Mission Chamber Orchestra and has continuously served as Music Director and conductor. During the orchestra’s second season, Ms. Ray and the orchestra recorded a compact disc, Dreams, which was broadcast by radio stations across the country. A second disc, Reflections on the Hudson, was recorded and released in 2000. Containing the orchestral works of Bay Area composer Nancy Bloomer Deussen, it is a part of Arizona University Recordings’ Contemporary Composers Series. Ms. Ray and the Mission Chamber Orchestra most recently recorded the A.J. Fernandes Violin Concerto with Portuguese violinist Carlos Damas. The disc containing this recording was released by Brilliant Classics (Naxos) in April of 2014.
She has made guest conducting appearances with several orchestras, including the Mississippi Symphony Orchestra, Auburn Symphony, Winchester Orchestra of San Jose, South Valley Symphony, Los Gatos Chamber Orchestra, and the California Orchestra Directors Association Honors String Orchestra. She is past president of the Silicon Valley Arts Coalition and has served as instructor at Santa Clara University and the following California colleges: Foothill College in Los Altos Hills, West Valley College in Saratoga, San Jose City College in San Jose, Mission College in Santa Clara, Cogswell Polytechnical Institute in Sunnyvale, and Heald College in Milpitas. Currently she is enjoying teaching music at Piedmont Hills High School in San Jose, CA.