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Richard Ramey, a musician versed in classical, jazz,
and Latin American music, draws upon his varied musical background in his
work as a performer and educator. He is Professor of Bassoon at the University
of Arkansas and a member of the Fort Smith Symphony. His membership
in chamber music groups include the Ramey Trio, Lyrique Quintette, Boston
Mountain Chamber Players, the bassoon quartet, Uncle Roy's Bassoons, and
the Latin Group, Olor a Café. He has also been a member of the
Flagstaff Festival of the Arts Orchestra, Music Festival of Arkansas, Grand
Rapids Symphony, the Lansing Symphony Orchestra, and while in Los Angeles,
The Baroque Consortium.
As a recitalist and clinician, Mr. Ramey has been invited to perform at
many International Double Reed Society conferences. His university appearances
include The Ohio State University, Catholic University, University of New
Mexico, University of Arizona, University of Montana, Eastern Kentucky University,
Eastern New Mexico University, Southwest Missouri State University, and schools
in Canada, Germany, and Thialand. At theUniversity of Arkansas, the
annual Double-Reed Rally, held each November, regularly attracts students
of oboe and bassoon from a multi-state region.
Premieres by Mr. Ramey include the bassoon quartet and wind ensemble version
of "Who Needs Enemies..." with
the Air Force Band of Mid-America, Imágenes
for bassoon quartet by Costa Rican composer Vinicio Meza, Shadow by Thai composer Narong Prangcharoen,
and Dharmachakra; Concerto for Woodwind
Quintet and Orchestra, also by Prangcharoen. Dharmachakra was premiered during a nationally-televised
performance in Bangkok, with the National Symphony of Thailand.
A renowned expert in wind chamber music, Mr. Ramey has performed in the
chamber setting for over 25 years. Several of his performances have been heard
on NPR's "Performance Today." Mr. Ramey has recorded four CDs:
Olor a Café,
featuring music for bassoon, piano, and Latin percussion, Night Sessions, featuring the bassoon
quartet Uncle Roy's Bassoons, Something
Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something Blue featuring the
Lyrique Quintette, and Time Labyrinths,
with oboist Theresa Delaplain. His next recording projects are a thre-disc
collection of unaccompanied works for bassoon, a three-disc collection of
music by the American composer Robert Baksa, a duo-bassoon collection, and
an instructional CD set of the Weissenborn Advanced Studies for Bassoon. His
recordings appear on the Naxos, Javelina, and Nuance labels.
As a member of The Lyrique Quintette and Boston Mountain Chamber Players,
he is listed in the Mid-America Arts Alliance Touring Roster.
Mr. Ramey is the Artistic Director of the Boston Mountain Chamber Players,
the faculty performing ensemble in residence at the University of Arkansas.
While doing graduate work in Tempe, Arizona, he co-founded the Nouveau West
Chamber Orchestra, an ensemble known for its seamless blending of 20th-Century
works with those of the Baroque, Classical and Romantic masters, and for
its regular commissions of new orchestral works by contemporary composers
such as R. Carlos Kakai and David Ward-Steinman.
Richard Ramey is known as an arranger of music for bassoon quartet with
many of his arrangements performed by various groups throughout the U.S. and
Europe. He recently completed a one-hour version for bassoon ensemble,
piano, and percussion of the music from Khachaturian's ballet Spartacus. He is also Director
of the University Bassoon Ensemble, a group well-known for its innovative
programming and surprising presentations.
As a scholar, Mr. Ramey is the author of several articles apearing in
the International Double Reed Journal and The Instrumentalist. He
has also authored the book, Secondary
Orchestra Excerpts for Bassoon. He is the co-editor, with colleague,
oboist Theresa Delaplain, of The Double-Reed
Chronicle, the only publication in the U.S. specifically geared towards
junior high and high school double-reed students.
Mr. Ramey is involved in many facets of research concerning bassoon practice
and performance, and has been the recipient of grants to further development
in these areas. His current area of research involves integrating
the instrument into the jazz medium. A sabbatical project culminated
in a comprehensive guide entitled "Audition Strategies for Orchestral Musicians,"
which is available as a lecture. He is a member of several musical
societies including the International Double Reed Society, the British Double
Reed Society, the Midwest Double Reed Society, and the American String Teachers
Association.
He holds degrees in Bassoon Performance and Musicology from the University
of Southern California, a masters degree in Bassoon Performance from Arizona
State University, and is a DMA candidate at Michigan State University.
His teachers included Willard Elliot, David Breidenthal, Alan Goodman, Manuel
Zegler, Michael O'Donovan, and the internationally-acclaimed bassoonist,
Norman Herzberg.
Mr. Ramey does have musical interests outside of the bassoon. He
is also a performer of the theremin, the oldest commercially-produced electronic
instrument.
Sequoyah Music Festival
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