Ray Loring
Encyclopedia
Charles Raymond Loring II (May 20, 1943 - September 6, 2008), known professionally as Ray Loring, was a classicly trained music composer and professor, in Massachusetts.
Born in Illinois to Howard and Rena Loring, they removed thereafter to Georgetown, MA. He graduated from Perley High School in his home town of Georgetown, MA. He studied piano with Fred Noonan, the White House pianist to Franklin Roosevelt and Harry Truman. He studied at Yale University at Timothy Dwight College
; particularly with the late Edmund Morgan. He was a member of Scroll and Key.
During his senior year at Yale he was granted the Woodrow Wilson Fellowship and used it for his studies at Brandeis University Graduate School of Music; studying under Seymour Shifrin, Arthur Berger and Harold Shapero
.
Loring taught music, performed, and conducted at Endicott College
from 1980-1992. He then went to freelance music composing full time, but lectured regularly at Amherst College
and Northern Essex Community College (MA). He had recently returned to teaching, on the music faculty at Gordon College
(MA).
Loring composed his first film score in 1971; the locally acclaimed short film "Ruby". He continued composing throughout his life. During the course of his career, Loring composed scores for more than 100 episodes of PBS/WGBH Boston's NOVA series, plus the theme music.
He contributed music to many other PBS, Discovery Channel, History Channel episodes; in addition to work with museum installations, historical visitor centers, etc. throughout the U.S. including the Harry Truman Museum, the theater at the National Archives Rotunda, the Museum of the Mississippi, and the Brooklyn Historical Society
. In 2004 he was commissioned to provide an arrangement for the Astoria Jazz Band, for inclusion in the 9th Annual Festival of Women in Jazz Composers at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC.
Additionally, Ray Loring composed and performed for the Essex Chamber Music Players (Andover, MA). A recording of Loring's "June on the Merrimack", which sets to music the words of local abolitionist poet John Greenleaf Whittier, is being prepared by the Essex Chamber Music Players (ECMP; events to honor Mr. Loring are planned for fall 2009. For more information about ECMP's Ray Loring Recording Fund, and to learn about ECMP's mission "preserving local cultural history through music" contact Michael Finegold at www.essexchambermusicplayers.org.
In his leisure Ray enjoyed mountain hiking; and had completed the New Hampshire 48 and the New England 67, both highly regarded accomplishments in the hiking world. He died suddenly on a cold, stormy day, near the top of Nubble Peak in New Hampshire despite the heroic rescue efforts of his fellow hikers: see "viewsfromthetop".com. Immediate survivors include his father Howard Loring; 1st cousins Eileen Murray of Sausalito CA, Charlotte M. Chapin of No. Palm Beach FL.
Nova ScienceNow (music theme) (39 episodes, 2005–2007)
Why the Towers Fell (2002) (TV) (composer: additional music)
Composer:
"Nova" (9 episodes, 1998–2006)
Einstein Revealed (1996) (TV)
Born in Illinois to Howard and Rena Loring, they removed thereafter to Georgetown, MA. He graduated from Perley High School in his home town of Georgetown, MA. He studied piano with Fred Noonan, the White House pianist to Franklin Roosevelt and Harry Truman. He studied at Yale University at Timothy Dwight College
Timothy Dwight College
Timothy Dwight College, commonly abbreviated and referred to as "TD", is a residential college at Yale University named after two university presidents, Timothy Dwight IV and Timothy Dwight V. The college was designed in 1935 by James Gamble Rogers in the Federal-style architecture popular during...
; particularly with the late Edmund Morgan. He was a member of Scroll and Key.
During his senior year at Yale he was granted the Woodrow Wilson Fellowship and used it for his studies at Brandeis University Graduate School of Music; studying under Seymour Shifrin, Arthur Berger and Harold Shapero
Harold Shapero
Harold Samuel Shapero is an American composer.-Early years:Born in Lynn, Massachusetts, Shapero and his family later moved to nearby Newton. He learned to play the piano as a child, and for some years was a pianist in dance orchestras. With a friend, he founded the Hal Kenny Orchestra, a swing-era...
.
Loring taught music, performed, and conducted at Endicott College
Endicott College
- History :Endicott was founded in 1939 by Eleanor Tupper and her husband, George O. Bierkoe, as a two-year women’s college. The college was issued its first charter by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in that year and graduated its first class in 1941. In 1944, it was approved by the state for...
from 1980-1992. He then went to freelance music composing full time, but lectured regularly at Amherst College
Amherst College
Amherst College is a private liberal arts college located in Amherst, Massachusetts, United States. Amherst is an exclusively undergraduate four-year institution and enrolled 1,744 students in the fall of 2009...
and Northern Essex Community College (MA). He had recently returned to teaching, on the music faculty at Gordon College
Gordon College
Gordon College may refer to:* Gordon College , a public college in Barnesville, Georgia* Gordon College , a Christian college in Wenham, Massachusetts* Gordon College , a Christian college in Rawalpindi, Pakistan...
(MA).
Loring composed his first film score in 1971; the locally acclaimed short film "Ruby". He continued composing throughout his life. During the course of his career, Loring composed scores for more than 100 episodes of PBS/WGBH Boston's NOVA series, plus the theme music.
He contributed music to many other PBS, Discovery Channel, History Channel episodes; in addition to work with museum installations, historical visitor centers, etc. throughout the U.S. including the Harry Truman Museum, the theater at the National Archives Rotunda, the Museum of the Mississippi, and the Brooklyn Historical Society
Brooklyn Historical Society
Founded in 1863, the Brooklyn Historical Society is a museum, library, and educational center preserving and encouraging the study of Brooklyn's rich 400-year past. The Brooklyn Historical Society houses materials relating to the history of Brooklyn and its people. These holdings supply...
. In 2004 he was commissioned to provide an arrangement for the Astoria Jazz Band, for inclusion in the 9th Annual Festival of Women in Jazz Composers at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC.
Additionally, Ray Loring composed and performed for the Essex Chamber Music Players (Andover, MA). A recording of Loring's "June on the Merrimack", which sets to music the words of local abolitionist poet John Greenleaf Whittier, is being prepared by the Essex Chamber Music Players (ECMP; events to honor Mr. Loring are planned for fall 2009. For more information about ECMP's Ray Loring Recording Fund, and to learn about ECMP's mission "preserving local cultural history through music" contact Michael Finegold at www.essexchambermusicplayers.org.
In his leisure Ray enjoyed mountain hiking; and had completed the New Hampshire 48 and the New England 67, both highly regarded accomplishments in the hiking world. He died suddenly on a cold, stormy day, near the top of Nubble Peak in New Hampshire despite the heroic rescue efforts of his fellow hikers: see "viewsfromthetop".com. Immediate survivors include his father Howard Loring; 1st cousins Eileen Murray of Sausalito CA, Charlotte M. Chapin of No. Palm Beach FL.
Commissions and scores
Nova (music theme) (53 episodes, 1997–2007) (composer: theme music) (2 episodes, 2006)- Pocahontas Revealed (2007) TV episode (music theme)
- Saved by the Sun (2007) TV episode (music theme)
- Kings of Camouflage (2007) TV episode (music theme)
- First Flower (2007) TV episode (music theme)
- The Last Great Ape (2007) TV episode (music theme)
Nova ScienceNow (music theme) (39 episodes, 2005–2007)
- Aging (2007) TV episode (music theme)
- Maya (2007) TV episode (music theme)
- Profile: Bonnie Bassler (2007) TV episode (music theme)
- Space Elevator (2007) TV episode (music theme)
- 1918 Flu (2006) TV episode (music theme)
Why the Towers Fell (2002) (TV) (composer: additional music)
Composer:
"Nova" (9 episodes, 1998–2006)
- The Deadliest Plane Crash (2006) TV episode
- Saving the National Treasures (2005) TV episode
- Descent Into the Ice (2004) TV episode
- Dogs and More Dogs (2004) TV episode
- Dirty Bomb (2003) TV episode
Einstein Revealed (1996) (TV)
- "Secrets of Lost Empires II" (1996) TV series (unknown episodes)
- Ruby (1971) Producer