Five Pieces from "The Battell"

Raymond Horton (b. 1952, Jeffersontown, KY) has had a long and varied career as a performer, composer, arranger, conductor, and church musician in his native Louisville, KY, and southern Indiana area since winning the position of Bass Trombonist of The Louisville Orchestra in 1971 at the age of 18. He has advanced degrees in trombone, composition, and church music from the University of Louisville and the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. He studied trombone and euphonium with Ernest Lyon (University of Louisville), and trombone with Per Brevig (Metropolitan Opera), and Edward Kleinhammer (Chicago Symphony). Raymond studied composition primarily with Nelson Keyes (University of Louisville).

Besides playing on some 175 recorded orchestral works on the Louisville Orchestra First Edition Recordings Series, Raymond has made five solo appearances with the Louisville Orchestra - ranging from performances of virtuoso Sousa-era euphonium solos (his playing of Joseph De Luca's Beautiful Colorado was termed an "astonishment" by The Courier Journal) to a performance on the LO's "New Dimension" series of Jacob Druckman's Animus I for trombone and electronic tape (described by the CJ as "a whirl of pyrotechnics"). He has also played for several state and national brass workshops.

In addition to his work in composition and performance, Ray serves as Minister of Music at Edwardsville United Methodist Church in Georgetown, IN, for whom he has written many shorter works and where he has been spotted playing guitar and singing in a church rock band. Ray lives in southern Indiana with his wife, Terry, a school principal and organist at the church. They have three grown children and a two-year-old grandson.

Ray's personal website can be found here: www.rayhortonmusic.com