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Raymond Wilding-White Raymond Wilding-White (also known as Ray Wilding-White; b. Caterham, Tandridge, Surrey, England, October 9, 1922; d. Kewaunee, Wisconsin, United States, August 24, 2001) was a composer of contemporary classical music and electronic music, and photographer/digital artist. Wilding-White spent the first five years of his life in England before moving to St.-Germain-en-Laye, outside Paris, France, where he had his first formal instruction in music at the Conservatoire Camille St.-Saëns. In 1932 the family moved to Buenos Aires, Argentina, his mother's family home. In 1940, Wilding-White enrolled at enrolled in the chemical engineering program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, but dropped out to assist in the war effort as a civilian. After the war he was accepted at the Juilliard School in New York City, earning his bachelor's degree in piano performance. Wilding-White earned his master's in composition from the New England Conservatory of Music. During this period he also sang in the Chorus pro Musica under Alfred Nash Patterson, and as a countertenor (male alto) in the choir at Church of the Advent in Boston. While in Boston he worked at the radio station WGBH. He and Nancy Harper won a Peabody Award for their work on The Children's Circle. Wilding-White left WGBH to pursue his doctorate in composition from Boston University. He and his wife Glennie were married in 1956. He was a student of Aaron Copland and Luigi Dallapicolla. By 1962 he had completed his doctorate and was appointed to the Kulas Chair at Case Institute of Technology. He taught in the humanities program and was director of the Case Glee Club as part of his academic duties and was instrumental in promoting contemporary music concerts and multi-media events in Cleveland, Ohio. In 1967 Case Institute merged with Western Reserve University, and Wilding-White accepted an invitation from DePaul University to design and install an electronic music studio there. He taught humanities courses at DePaul until retiring in the mid-1980s. In Chicago he founded the contemporary performing arts ensemble The Loop Group. Wilding-White created new radio programming at WFMT in Chicago, Illinois. During the Bicentennial year 1976 he recorded the daily series Our American Music. He also recorded a history of music in Chicago, entitled Music Chicago Style, as a complement to the Chicago Historical Society's exhibit, and wrote and presented programming on composers Charles Ives, John Cage, and Arnold Schoenberg. Wilding-White was also an avid photographer and visual artist, with exhibitions in the gallery of Darkroom Aids, Chicago (1981) and the Brown County Museum (Green Bay, Wisconsin). Wilding-White composed over 100 works. He was influenced by the work of the American composer John Cage. His scores are archived at the Newberry Library in Chicago, and his photographic work will also be kept there. He died in Kewaunee, Wisconsin of liver failure at the age of 78. |
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