Biography

Ray Twomey, a contemporary classical music composer whose CDs are available in various countries, was born in England in 1938. He moved to New Zealand after the war where he completed his schooling. He received his musical education at Victoria University of Wellington. He immigrated to Canada in 1965. Ray is affiliated with SOCAN (the Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada), an Associate Member of the Canadian Music Centre and a member of the Canadian League of Composers, the Centre for the Promotion of Contemporary Composers (CPCC), and New Zealand’s SOUNZ.

Ray has composed close to a hundred musical compositions. His portfolio includes works for symphony and chamber orchestras, concert band, opera, vocal and chamber groups, solo instruments and various choral combinations. He has released six CD’s so far, with a further three to four in production. His music, which is always carefully crafted, speaks in an idiom that is both approachable and deeply personal. His musical language centers around a unique harmonic essence underlying a wonderful melodic inventiveness. Ray’s music, with its tight formal structure, alludes to our rich western heritage combined with the expressive freedom of the 20th century. His sonic palette is widely ranging in timbral variety while conservative in melodic content.

In addition to his activities as a composer, Ray was involved in the investment field as a broker and an Investment Advisor with the Royal Bank’s Dominion Securities Ltd., one of Canada’s largest investment banking firms, until his recent retirement. He is a Fellow of the Canadian Securities Institute. He has two sons who are also very active in various creative endeavours. He believes that cloistered art has less validity than that which issues from multifaceted life experiences. For the last number of years he has been exploring the physics of quantum mechanics and the profound attributes of consciousness on physical processes. Ray has said that if he had his life to live again, he would choose to be a research scientist. His other interests include scuba diving and even a little sky-diving, flying with the Calgary Flying Club, hiking, fly fishing and much traveling. He was formerly a broadcaster with the New Zealand Broadcasting Corporation and a high school teacher for grades 11 and 12 in New Zealand, England and Canada. Ray’s interests are many and varied. He holds three passports, has lived in two hemispheres, four countries and eleven cities and over twenty-five homes!!!

Selected Works

• Works (49)