Ray E. Cramer (born 28 June 1940) is an American band conductor.

Education

Cramer has degrees from

Western Illinois University Western Illinois University (WIU) is a public university in Macomb, Illinois. It was founded in 1899 as Western Illinois State Normal School. As the normal school grew, it became Western Illinois State Teachers College. History Western Illin ...

and

the University of Iowa The University of Iowa (UI, U of I, UIowa, or simply Iowa) is a public university, public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is org ...

.Ray Cramer:
/ref> In December 1991, he received an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from his alma mater of

Career

Cramer began his career as the band director at Harlan High School in Harlan, Iowa. From 1968 to 1969 he served as Director of Bands at Parma Senior High School in the Cleveland area of Ohio. He joined the faculty at

Indiana University School of Music The Indiana University Jacobs School of Music in Bloomington, Indiana, is a music conservatory established in 1921. Until 2005, it was known as the Indiana University School of Music. It has more than 1,500 students, approximately half of whom ar ...

in the fall of 1969, and served as director of the Indiana University Marching Hundred from 1972 to 1982. In 1982, Cramer was appointed

Director of Bands A Director of Bands is the head figure of a marching or concert form of bands, a person who leads a musical ensemble. The Director, by history and tradition, must know all the concepts of music and must be able to teach all different kinds of instr ...

in the School of Music. He was a professor of music history, literature and wind conducting, retiring in 2005. He is the Emeritus Director of Bands in Indiana University. Cramer is a member of ABA, WASBE and IBA. He is affiliated with

Phi Mu Alpha Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia Fraternity of America (colloquially known as Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, Phi Mu Alpha, or simply Sinfonia) () is an American collegiate social fraternity for men with a special interest in music. The fraternity is open to men "w ...

Kappa Kappa Psi Kappa Kappa Psi National Honorary Band Fraternity (, colloquially referred to as KKPsi), is a fraternity for college and university band members in the United States. It was founded on November 27, 1919, on Thanksgiving Day, at Oklahoma Agricul ...

Tau Beta Sigma Tau Beta Sigma Honorary Band Sorority, (, colloquially referred to as TBSigma or TBS) is a co-educational service sorority. The sorority, headquartered at the historic Stillwater Santa Fe Depot in Stillwater, Oklahoma, numbers over 3,800 active m ...

, Phi Kappa Delta and

Phi Beta Mu Phi Beta Mu, International Bandmasters' Fraternity (), is an honorary fraternity for band directors. The fraternity was designed to honor outstanding band directors at the state level, with only one potential chapter per state. There are currentl ...

. He was a guest conductor on the faculty of the Musashino Academy of Music in

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

in the fall of 1990, the summer of 1992 and 1995. Cramer was also the guest conductor for the Indiana Bandmasters Association All-State Honor Band in 1983, 1995, 2001, and 2012.

Honors

Mr. Cramer is a recipient of the Student Alumni Council Senior Faculty Award (1983), The

Distinguished Service to Music Medal The Distinguished Service to Music Medal is an award presented by Kappa Kappa Psi, National Honorary Band Fraternity. It is awarded to people who have contributed to the advancement of the wind band "as a cultural, musical and educational medium. ...

(1988), the CIDA Director of the Year Award (1988), Outstanding Bandmaster Award (1988) and the Kappa Kappa Psi Bohumil Makovsky Memorial Award (1991). He is a past National President of the

College Band Directors National Association William D. Revelli (February 12, 1902 – July 16, 1994) was an American music educator and conductor best known for his association with the University of Michigan, where he directed the university's bands including the Michigan Marching Ban ...

and has served as president of the

Indiana Bandmasters Association Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th sta ...

, and the Big Ten Band Directors Association.

References

External links

* 1940 births Living people 20th-century classical composers American male classical composers American classical composers Western Illinois University alumni University of Iowa alumni Distinguished Service to Music Medal recipients 20th-century American composers 20th-century American male musicians {{US-composer-20thC-stub