Ray Chew is an American musician who specializes in keyboards and contemporary and orchestral arranging. He is the music director of ABC's

Dancing with the Stars ''Dancing with the Stars'' is the name of various international television series based on the format of the British TV series '' Strictly Come Dancing'', which is distributed by BBC Studios, the commercial arm of the BBC. Currently the form ...

(2014–present). Chew was music director for Fox's

American Idol ''American Idol'' is an American singing competition television series created by Simon Fuller, produced by Fremantle North America and 19 Entertainment, and distributed by Fremantle North America. It aired on Fox from June 11, 2002, to ...

from 2010 to 2013. In 2014, Chew musically directed the

Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade is an annual parade in New York City presented by the U.S.-based department store chain Macy's. The Parade first took place in 1924, tying it for the second-oldest Thanksgiving parade in the United States wit ...

. He has also served as music director for the

Miss Universe Miss Universe is an annual international beauty pageant that is run by a United States and Thailand based Miss Universe Organization.Natalie Tadena (July 2, 2015"Donald Trump's Miss USA Pageant Lands on Reelz Cable Channel". ''The Wall St ...

and

Miss USA Miss USA is an American beauty pageant that has been held annually since 1952 to select the entrant from United States in the Miss Universe pageant. The Miss Universe Organization operated both pageants, as well as Miss Teen USA, until 2020, ...

pageants since 2010. Chew was a member of the Saturday Night Live Band from 1980 to 1983. During the 90s & 2000s, he was music director for the syndicated television series ''

Showtime at the Apollo ''Showtime at the Apollo'' (formerly ''It's Showtime at the Apollo'' and ''Apollo Live'') is an American variety show that first aired in syndication from September 12, 1987 to May 24, 2008. In 2018, the series returned on Fox with Steve Harvey ...

'' and the bandleader on '' The Singing Bee''. Chew was the bandleader during the

2008 Democratic National Convention The 2008 Democratic National Convention was a quadrennial presidential nominating convention of the Democratic Party where it adopted its national platform and officially nominated its candidates for president and vice president. The convent ...

, and at the Barack Obama Neighborhood Ball at the

First inauguration of Barack Obama The first inauguration of Barack Obama as the 44th president of the United States took place on Tuesday, January 20, 2009, at the West Front of the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C. The 56th inauguration, which set a record attendanc ...

in 2009.Lustig, Jay
"New Jersey musician kicks off festival paying tribute to African-American culture"
''

The Star-Ledger ''The Star-Ledger'' is the largest circulated newspaper in the U.S. state of New Jersey and is based in Newark. It is a sister paper to '' The Jersey Journal'' of Jersey City, ''The Times'' of Trenton and the '' Staten Island Advance'', all of ...

'', February 26, 2009. Accessed February 26, 2009. Chew grew up in the Grant Houses in Harlem.Beckerman, Jim
"The pro who rules amateur night"
''

The Record (Bergen County) ''The Record'' (also called ''The North Jersey Record'', ''The Bergen Record'', ''The Sunday Record'' (Sunday edition) and formerly ''The Bergen Evening Record'') is a newspaper in New Jersey, United States. Serving Bergen, Essex, Hudson and ...

'', June 28, 2009. Accessed June 28, 2009. He studied at Harlem School of the Arts. He also studied at Third Street Music School Settlement in the early 1970s for four years, where he became a student teacher alongside faculty member Ramon Rodriguez. He concentrated on percussion, piano and contemporary jazz. At 16, Chew landed his first professional gig with Tony award winner Melba Moore. Then at 19, he was discovered by Nick Ashford and Valerie Simpson, who chose him as their music director and ushered him into the New York session scene where he plied his craft as an arranger and first call pianist in many records and Jingles. Chew is credited as arranger and or pianists in recordings for artists including

Diana Ross Diana Ross (born March 26, 1944) is an American singer and actress. She rose to fame as the lead singer of the vocal group the Supremes, who became Motown's most successful act during the 1960s and one of the world's best-selling girl groups ...

Luther Vandross Luther Ronzoni Vandross Jr. (April 20, 1951 – July 1, 2005) was an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. Known for his sweet and soulful vocals, Vandross has sold over 40 million records worldwide. He achieved eleven consecutive P ...

Roberta Flack Roberta Cleopatra Flack (born February 10, 1937) is a retired American singer. She topped the ''Billboard'' charts with the No. 1 singles " The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face", " Killing Me Softly with His Song", " Feel Like Makin' Love", " W ...

and

Donny Hathaway Donny Edward Hathaway (October 1, 1945 – January 13, 1979) was an American soul singer, keyboardist, songwriter, and arranger whom ''Rolling Stone'' described as a "soul legend". His most popular songs include " The Ghetto", "This Christmas ...

References

3. "The One And Only Ray Chew

External links

Official website

Ray Chew 2013 Audio Interview at Soulinterviews.com
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Chew, Ray American bandleaders Television personalities from New York City Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School alumni Living people People from Harlem People from Teaneck, New Jersey Saturday Night Live Band members Music directors Dancing with the Stars American conductors (music) Year of birth missing (living people) American music arrangers