Sonia Ray
is a double bassist, researcher and professor at the School
of Music of the Federal University of Goiás (Brazil)
where she teaches double bass, chamber music, methodology of
research in music, and analysis and criticism of contemporary
music. She has a doctoral degree in Double Bass Performance
and Pedagogy from the University of Iowa, where she studied
with international soloist Diana Gannett.
Ray
has performed as a soloist and as a chamber musician in several
Brazilian and North American cities. She is an advocate for
new music for the bass as has premiered and commissioned several
Brazilian new works for the instrument. Ray is a co-founding
member of the ABC-Brazilian Society of Bassists, through which
she has idealized and co-organized six international double
bass encounters, two double bass composition contests and a
solo competition. She has appeared as a presenter at the ISB
- International Society of Bassists since 1997 teaching the
Young Bassists as well as performing.
She
is the president of ANPPOM
- National Society for Music Research and Graduate Studies and
her major research interests lie in musical performance psychology
and Brazilian music for the double bass. Ray is spending this
Spring Semester as a Visiting Scholar at the University of North
Texas where she has been working with world known soloist Jeff
Bradetich.