Ray Farr (b. 1948) was educated at the Birmingham School of Music and at the Royal Academy of Music. After 10 years as a professional musician with the BBC Radio Orchestra he started his career as a conductor. Ray has appeared in hundreds of concerts around the world and in some of the finest concert halls including the Royal Albert Hall and the Sydney Opera House and has gained a reputation as a stylish conductor and a planner of interesting concert programmes ranging from light music to ‘avant-garde’. He is equally adept in classical and modern music and has conducted opera, ballet and oratorio, and works regularly with various orchestras, bands and choirs.

In 2003 Ray accepted a position as Conductor in Residence at Durham University where he taught conducting and arranging, and combined this work with a busy freelance career. As an arranger and composer Ray has over one hundred published works and has written two books; one on conducting, and the other on the famous Distin Family. As an adjudicator, Ray is enormously experienced having judged hundreds competitions, festivals and examinations around the world. Ray was recently voted “Conductor of the Year” by www.4barsrest.com and described by the specialist magazine Brass Band World as a ‘Legend’.