This concert honors the memory of William Ramsay, a long time Santa Barbara Music Club member and supporter who died November 8, 2016 in Washington D.C.  Bill was a renowned physicist, author, and composer, whose music was performed several times on the SBMC concert series.

Born in 1930, William Ramsay studied music composition privately and at the Washington Conservatory. He earned the BA at University of Colorado, Boulder, and the MA and PhD in physics at UCLA, and subsequently taught and did research at UCSB and elsewhere. His compositions include the symphonic prelude, Glory Road, performed by the Santa Barbara Symphony, The Hawk, a Violin Suite, a Flute Sonata, a Piano Quartet, and numerous songs, including a setting of Spring Dawn, based on a text by the Tang Dynasty poet Meng Hao-Jan.  Author of a number of published short stories, he had written for the theater and had published a number of books on energy and environmental questions.

The works to be performed are Three Songs for Tenor, Baritone, and Piano (2013), performed by Bryan Lane, Tyler Reese, and Christopher Davis, then Four Piano Pieces, performed by Egle Januleviciute.  Christine Hollinger and Christopher Davis will perform Four Songs for Soprano and Piano (2011), with texts by Heine, Ramsey, and T.S. Elliot.  The last work on the program will be scenes from The Return of Don Giovanni (2016), with Christine Hollinger as Donna Elvira; Kyra Folk-Farber as Donna Anna; Bryan Lane as Don Ottavio; Tyler Reese as Don Giovanni; and Byron Mayes as Leporello.