Pianist VICKI RAY performs internationally as a soloist and collaborative artist. She is a member of the award-winning California E.A.R. Unit and Xtet. As a founding member of Piano Spheres, her playing has been hailed by the Los Angeles Times for “displaying that kind of musical thoroughness and technical panache that puts a composer’s thoughts directly before the listener.” A long-time champion of new music, Ray has worked with György Ligeti, John Adams, Pierre Boulez, Elliott Carter, Morton Subotnick, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Stephen Hartke, Oliver Knussen, and many others. Ray has been featured on the Los Angeles Philharmonic Green Umbrella Series, with the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, the German ensemble Compania, and the Blue Rider Ensemble of Toronto, with whom she made the first Canadian recording of Pierrot Lunaire.

As a pianist who excels in a wide range of styles, Ray has made numerous recordings covering everything from the premiere release of Steve Reich’s riveting You Are Variations to the semi-improvised structures of Wadada Leo Smith, from the elegant serialism of Mel Powell to the austere beauty of Morton Feldman’s Crippled Symmetries.

During the past two summers, Ray has served as the pianist for the Bang on a Can Summer Festival at Mass MOCA. She also appears with the Partch ensemble playing harmonic canon and kithara — a mind and ear altering experience she enjoys immensely.

Vicki Ray has been a member of the piano faculty at the California Institute of the Arts since 1991.