Ray Robinson is a native of California's San Francisco Bay Area where he studied violin as a child and viola and conducting at San Jose State University. His masters and doctoral degrees were earned at Indiana University School of Music in Bloomington, Indiana. In addition, he has participated in post-doctoral work at Cambridge and Krakow.
Following appointments at the Cascade College (Portland), Peabody Conservatory of Music (Baltimore), Westminster Choir College (Princeton), and Cambridge University's Wolfson College (England), Professor Robinson joined the faculty of Palm Beach Atlantic University in 1989 where he reorganized the choral program, founded the Oratorio Chorus (1990) and the PBA Singers (1992) and taught courses in musicology. Over the past fourteen years he has conducted many of the masterworks for chorus and orchestra, including J.S. Bach's St. John Passion, Felix Mendelssohn's Elijah, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Coronation Mass and Requiem, Francis Poulenc's Gloria and Organ Concerto and Maurice Duruflé's Requiem. In addition to his duties at Palm Beach Atlantic University, he has served as Visiting Professor of Choral Studies at the University of Miami School of Music and Visiting Fellow at Wolfson College, University of Cambridge (England).
Dr. Robinson has authored or co-edited ten books. He has also contributed articles to the Schütz Jahrbuch, International Choral Bulletin, Opera News, Ovation, Studies in Penderecki and The Choral Journal and served as Chair of the American Choral Directors Association's Research and Publications Committee (1984-93). Since 1995 he has served as Chair of the Editorial Board of Studies in Penderecki.
Dr. Robinson's conducting career has taken him to Austria, Germany, Great Britain, Poland, Romania and the Ukraine where he has performed a variety of literature for choir and orchestra. He is a specialist in the music of Felix Mendelssohn, Krzysztof Penderecki, and the works of Polish and Romanian composers.
In 1987, Westminster Choir College honored Professor Robinson with the degree, Doctor of Humane Letters honoris causa. He is listed in a number of biographical reference volumes including Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Musicians, Who's Who in America, Who's Who in American Education, Dictionary of International Biography, and International Who's Who in Music.
SELECTED BOOKS
- The Choral Experience. New York: Harper and Row, 1976.
- Choral Music: A Norton Historical Anthology. New York: W.W. Norton, 1978.
- Krzysztof Penderecki: A Guide to His Works. Princeton: Prestige Publications, 1983.
- A Study of Penderecki's St. Luke Passion. Celle: Moeck Verlag, 1983.
- John Finley Williamson: A Centennial Appreciation. Princeton: Prestige Publications, 1987.
- A Bach Tribute: Essays in Honor of William H. Scheide. Kassel: Bärenreiter Verlag, 1993.
- Studies in Penderecki I . Princeton: Prestige Publications, Inc., 1998.
- Studies in Penderecki II. Princeton: Prestige Publications, 2003.
- "Postcards" from Cambridge. Princeton: Prestige Publications, 2004.
© Copyright 2004 by Society for Polish Music, Los Angeles
Updated in October 2004.
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