Ray Wilding-White – in memory
- Years at WGBH FM and TV: 1951-1956
- Positions: Music producer-director
From Larry Creshkoff — 9/3/2001
Ray Wilding-White, who was a music producer-director at WGBH-FM and TV during the years 1951-1956, died on Friday, August 24, 2001, at his home in Kewaunee, Wisconsin.
On FM, he did many live musical performances from Jordan Hall and Sanders Theatre. Children’s Circle with Nancy Harper was his five-day-a-week responsibility on FM for four years.
He originated Images, a daily half-hour that intermixed slides, opaques, music, and commentary from the Museum of Fine Arts.
Anyone interested in a highly idiosyncratic view of how things were during his period at the stations should read [intlink id=”1050″ type=”post”]One Way to Run a Railroad[/intlink] which was posted on the Web site in time for the 2000 reunion.
Ray is survived by his wife, Glennie. You can make contact with her through Larry at
Biography
Ray was a utility producer/director at WGBH from 1951 to 1956. His range was extensive, including musical performances on both FM and TV, “Children’s Circle” on FM, and “Images” on TV, which brought together in highly innovative ways the visual resources of the Museum of Fine Arts with music and narration, in an ongoing live series five days a week. He also composed and conducted the theme music for two series produced under the aegis of the National Educational Television and Radio Center: “Of Science and Scientists,” and “Action at Law.”
After leaving WGBH, he took a doctorate in music at Boston University. He subsequently taught music in the humanities department of Case Institute of Technology in Cleveland, and then at De Paul University in Chicago, attaining the rank of full professor. He is the composer of some 180 works, a number of which have been performed by the American String Quartet, the Chicago String Ensemble, and the Cleveland Symphony Orchestra.
Among his “extra-curricular” activities while in Chicago was “Our American Music” on WFMT — a daily series (366 programs!) produced in commemoration of the U.S. Bicentennial.