Ontario District’s own Ray Danley has been announced as one of the 2018 inductees into the Barbershop Harmony Society’s Hall of Fame. The annoucement by the BHS is reprinted below. Congratulations Ray!
Dr. Ray Danley joined the Society, then SPEBSQSA, in 1957. He holds an Associate of the Royal Conservatory of Toronto (ARCT) in vocal performance and earned his Doctorate from the University of Toronto in 1980. Ray worked with a select team organized by the Director of Musical Activities, Bob Johnson, to write the Society’s first Chorus Director’s Manual in 1973. As a member of the Ontario District, Ray directed the Scarborough Dukes of Harmony to victory in the summer of 1976, qualifying them to compete in the International competition the next year. They were the first competitor, quartet or chorus, from outside the United States to win gold. In addition, he was a semifinalist in the International Quartet Competition for 7 consecutive years (1973-1979), singing baritone in “The Canadian Heritage.” Ray was a Harmony University faculty member from 1976-1982. As the director of his local Simcoe Chapter, Gentlemen of Harmony (1958-1967 and 2001-2015), Ray increased the membership from 32 in 2001 to 84 in 2015. Nominator Steven Armstrong, Director of the Toronto Northern Lights (2013 International Chorus Champions), explains, “Ray has demonstrated that in addition to his rare feat of being a multiple gold medal winning chorus director, he was a Hall of Fame barbershopper in the ways that he so generously gave of his time to develop the singers, directors and teachers that would follow him.”
Photo by Ash Murrell Photography