Douglas McRay Daniels
Ray is the music director for the Fall River Symphony Orchestra, Bentley University Chamber Orchestra and adjunct lecturer at Tufts University. He currently serves as instructor of music at Gann Academy and was the chair of the Arts Department from 2012-2016. Among his many accomplishments, Daniels is the founder and artistic director of the popular televised 3rd Sundays @ 3 Chamber Music Series, which highlighted groups throughout the Greater Boston Area and across the country.
In 2017, Ray was honored by the Rhode Island Music Educators Association and was invited to conduct the RIMEA Junior All-State Orchestra. His Boston area guest conducting appointments have included the Melrose Symphony Orchestra, Boston Invitational Trombone Ensemble, Boston New Music Initiative and Quincy Symphony Orchestra. In 2014 he was invited to work with the Berlin Sinfonietta in Berlin Germany and the Bohuslav Martinů Philharmonic Orchestra in Zlin and Kromeriz, Czech Republic. His past posts have included assistant conductor appointments with the Heartland Philharmonic Orchestra in Omaha, NE and the Marlborough Symphony Orchestra (now known as Metrowest Symphony) in Marlborough, MA. Ray was also the Sinfonia conductor at Philips Exeter Academy in Exeter, NH and the conductor of the Honors Orchestra at Nashoba Youth Orchestras in Westford, MA.
Also a composer, Daniels’ Rev. E.L. Knight for solo Tuba was premiered by the Boston Symphony Orchestra’s Principal Tubist, Michael Roylance, during the 2007 & 2013 Tanglewood season.
Guided by a belief that music is “common ground” that bridges differences of humanity, Ray is particularly interested in engaging young and new audiences. Raised on a farm with eleven siblings in southern Alabama, Ray echoes his humble beginnings by sharing his passion for music making in an approachable and yet distinguished manner. He makes his home in Medford, MA with his daughters, Zoë and Zaila.
