Ramsay

An alumnus of the Aspen Music Festival and the New College Music Festival, Wes Ramsay is a composer, performer, teacher and entrepreneur, building bridges between the academic and business worlds and between British and American music education institutions. He is honored to be a student of Henry Romersa, founder of the International Trombone Festival. He is grateful for guidance received from Per Brevig, John Swallow and David Loucky.

 Wes grew up in the musical milieu of his hometown Nashville Tennessee: Churches, The Grand Ole Opry, WSM radio broadcasts of Metropolitan Opera matinees, jazz and folk music. He studied classical music at Blair Academy, then attached to George Peabody College for Teachers.

 He graduated cum laude from the University of Louisville, and returned home to work in the music industry, collaborating with such notables as Al DeLory (producer of Glenn Campbell’s Wichita Lineman)  and Jimmy Bowen (producer of Frank Sinatra’s Strangers In The Night). He performed as trombonist on recording sessions, in chamber and orchestral settings, and served as an arranger for a number of clients. His work life gradually evolved into record production, choral arranging and composition, and music publishing through his firm August Press LLC.  

Wes is a long-time advocate of music education, and serves as a Representative of the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music (ABRSM) for a large region of the United States.  His professional affiliations include ASCAP, as both composer and publisher, International Trombone Association, American Guild of Organists, and the American Federation of Musicians.

Dr. Marc Satterwhite, Director of the Grawemeyer Award for Music Composition, offers these words about Wes. “I have known Wes Ramsay since … longer ago than I care to think about.  He has forged one of the most interesting and diverse careers in music of anyone I have known, with interests in classical music, sacred music, jazz and more.  He knows both the academic and “real world” sides of the profession intimately.  He brings to everything he does an intense intellectual curiosity and a remarkable musical imagination, enriched by his wide acquaintance with so many musical styles. “

Working from his desk on a farm in Burns, Tennessee--a short drive from his golf club-Wes enjoys his life married to renowned harpist/composer/recording artist/conductor Carol McClure, whose virtues and accomplishments make his pale by comparison.  He is the proud father of son Parker, a concert artist in New York, and daughter Susannah, a nurse practitioner specializing in women’s health care in Annapolis.