Raymond Torres-Santos

Raymond Torres-Santos is a Puerto Rican born composer and conductor who has received international recognition for the quality of his musical compositions and great talents as a pianist, arranger, producer and conductor.

Overview

Dr. Raymond Torres-Santos, is currently the Dean of the College of the Arts and Communication at William Paterson University in Wayne, New Jersey.

Dr. Torres-Santos earned Bachelor of Arts degrees from the Conservatory of Music of Puerto Rico and the University of Puerto Rico. Later he completed graduate studies at UCLA earning M.A. and PhD. degrees in music composition, music theory and literature. In addition, Torres-Santos completed post doctoral studies in Europe. First at Ferienkurse fur Neue Musik, Darmstadt, Germany; later at the Uhiversity of Padua, Italy. Further post-doctoral studies include those at the Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics at Stanford University, Eastman School of Music and Harvard University.

Torres-Santos was considered a prodigious child, since he started performing professionally while in elementary school. While at college, he started his musical career as a pianist and arranger for the Puerto Rico Orchestra and the Mario Ortiz Orchestra, and accompanied world class performers as Chita Rivera, Robert Goulet, Diahann Carroll and The Stylistics.

As an arranger he has worked alongside many artists, including Julio Iglesias, Danny Rivera, Ednita Nazario, Elvis Crespo and Placido Domingo. He was the first Puerto Rican to receive the Frank Sinatra Award in jazz composing and arranging and was also a recipient of the Henry Mancini Award.

Torres-Santos has maintained a prolific artistic career while at the same time developing his career as a musical educator.

After completing his doctoral studies, Torres-Santos became a music professor at various colleges including California State University, University of Puerto Rico and was appointed Chancellor of the Puerto Rico Conservatory of Music. Since the beginning of the 21st century, Torres-Santos has lived in the New York City area. He was a professor at City University of New York (CUNY) for over 5 years. In June, 2008, Torres-Santos was appointed Dean of the College of the Arts and Communication of William Paterson University in Wayne, New Jersey.

He has traveled extensively both to perform as a musician and conductor and as a guest speaker at international events. He is scheduled as a guest speaker at the 28th International Conference of the International Society for Music Education to be held in Bologna, Italy in July, 2008.

Dr. Torres-Santos will publish a book on the Music Education in the Caribbean and Latin America for which he will be general editor and contributor. This project is to be published in 2010 by MENC: the National Association of Music Education in the USA.

Compositions

Torres-Santos catalog of compositions range from orchestral and chamber music, to electronic, ballet, and popular music for film, theater, television and radio. He has received commissions to compose many of his works, such as the “1898 Overture” commissioned by the Puerto Rico Government’s 1998 Centennial Commission, “Conversations with Silence”, commissioned for the New Jersey Chamber Music Society, “Jersey Polyphony”, commissioned by the American Composer Forum Continental Harmony Project and “Juris Oratorio” commissioned by the University of Puerto Rico.

His compositions have been performed by major orchestras around the world, including the American Composers Orchestra, Boston Pops, Pacific Symphony, Bronx Arts Ensemble, New Jersey Chamber Music Society, Puerto Rico Symphony Orchestra and the orchestras of Mexico City, London and Vienna. His works have been also been featured at the internationally famous Casals Festival in Puerto Rico.

Among his major works and recordings are La Canción de las Antillas, recorded by the Puerto Rico Symphony Orchestra in 1990, Fantasia Caribeña, recorded by the San Juan Pops Orchestra in 2000, and his most recent, Requiem, released in 2002 and featured the noted Puerto Rican opera singers: mezzo-soprano, Ilca López and baritone, Rafael Cotto. Other orchestral works include: "El Pais de los Cuatro Pisos", a symphonic poem and "Sinfonia del Milenio" a melodic tour of history from creation to present times in an audiovisual format. As a studio and jazz pianist, he has worked with the likes of Maynard Ferguson, Freddie Hubbard, Bobby Sham, and Tito Puente. He has conducted the American Symphony Orchestra, New York Virtuosi Ensemble, Mexico City Philharmonic, the Puerto Rico Symphony Orchestra and others, including Hollywood studio orchestras for films.

Torres-Santos has also received awards from many organizations, including ASCAP, BMI, Meet the Composer, American Composers Forum, the American Music Center in New York.

References

* [http://www.prdream.com/patria/centro/05_09/torres.html SCHOLAR BIOGRAPHY; Dr. Raymond Torres-Santos, Chair of the Music Department, University of Puerto Rico] at prdream.com