- Skip Gray
Dr. Skip Gray is a professional
tuba player and professor of music at theUniversity of Kentucky .Dr. Skip Gray was born and raised in Berea, Ohio and attended Baldwin Wallace College studying under Ronald Bishop of the Cleveland Orchestra. Gray attended graduate school at the University of Illinois studying under Daniel Parentonni. He joined the faculty of the University of Kentucky in fall of 1980. Skip became the youngest full professor in U.K. history at the age of 31. Dr. Gray has been presented at the Prestigious Midwest Band and Orchestra Convention and at Carnegie Hall as well as playing throughout North America, Europe, and Japan. He hosted the 1991 International Tuba-Euphonium Conference in at University of Kentucky in Lexington.
Skip Gray has devoted portions of his career to arts administration. From 1992-1998, he served as Associate Dean of the College of Fine Arts at U.K. Dr. Gray served as President of ITEA from 2001 to 2003 and as the Corresponding secretary and executive director as well.
Dr. Skip Gray has held the position of principal tuba in the Lexington Philharmonic since 1980 under the direction of Dr. George Zach. During 1988-1990, Gray served as principal tuba in the Orchestra Sinfonica di Torino della RAI in Turin, Italy, a national orchestra broadcast over television all over the world including the United States of America. In addition, Gray has been presented with the Cincinnati Symphony, St. Louis Symphony, Budapest Symphony, Florida Orchestra, Cleveland Ballet Orchestra, and the United States Army Band. Along with playing music, a pastime of Dr. Gray's is to compose music for professional orchestras, bands, and ensembles.
In 2004, Gray released a Solo Tuba compact disk with German Pianist Rudolf Ramming entitled "Tuba Europa: A Musical Journey Across the Continent." He plans to release a new CD with Ramming soon.
In October 2008, Dr. Skip Gray will be presented as a special guest soloist with the University of Kentucky Symphony Orchestra under the direction of John Nardolillo. The U.K. Symphony Orchestra was presented at Carnegie Hall last November 26th with Arlo Guthrie and was given an outstanding review by the New York Times. In February, the orchestra will be presented at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. and will play for the national celebration of Pres. Abraham Lincoln's birthday. This concert will include Lincoln at Ease narrated by Kentucky Governor Steven L. Beshear and the U.K. opera.
Dr. Skip Gray is a Yamaha Performing Artist.
External links
* [http://www.uky.edu/~skipgray/ Skip Gray's bio at University of Kentucky website]
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