Premru, Raymond (6th June 1934-8th May 1998)

He was a trombonist and teacher born in Elmira, New York, as the son of a Methodist minister. From the time he was a teenager he studied at the Eastman School of Music and then the Royal College of Music, London, in the mid-1950s. He remained in London where he became a member of the Philharmonia Orchestra, with whom he stayed for three decades until 1988.

Throughout his years in London he could also be heard performing as a member of the London Brass and the Philip Jones Brass Ensemble over the twenty four year period 1964 to 1968 and making guest appearances with orchestras that included the Akron Symphony Orchestra, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the London Symphony Orchestra, the BBC Symphony Orchestra, the Rochester Philharmonic, the New York Philharmonic, the English Chamber Orchestra and the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields amongst many others.

In the world of popular music he was also very highly sought after and worked with a huge array of artists such as Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, The Beatles, Pink Floyd, The Rolling Stones, Oscar Peterson, Mel Torme and Tony Bennett as well as on TV and film music which includes the theme to the British sit-com Bless Me Father.

He also branched out as a conductor and led many ensembles such as the Eastman Trombone Choir and Wind Orchestra, the Philharmonia Orchestra, the London Festival Orchestra and also his co-founded Booby Lamb/Ray Premru Big Band.

As a composer he was awarded many commissions and his works include “Concerto for Orchestra”, “Concerto for Tuba and Orchestra”, two symphonies where his second was written for the Cleveland Orchestra and many chamber works such as “Music from Harter Fell” and “Tissington Variations”.

In the world of recording he can be heard on countless albums such as Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band by The Beatles, Too Scared to Play! By High Anxiety Bones, Beyond the End of the Century with the Juilliard School Trombone Choir, Holiday Season with Tommy Banks, Easy Winners, Renaissance Brass and Greatest Hits with the Philip Jones Brass Ensemble, Moon Riverwith Johnny Mercer and Robert Hall Lewis with the Philarmonia Orchestra.

Highly respected in the world of musical education he taught at the Eastman School of Music, the Guildhall School of Music and the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, where a scholarship is now given in his memory, and gave many international master classes and workshops.

He died in May 1998 in Cleveland, Ohio, from oesophageal cancer. He was 63 years old.

Philip Jones Brass Ensemble recordings
The Agincourt Song (Anonymous)
Decca B0000807 (2003, CD: Music from the Royal Court)

Sources:

Premru, Raymond (6th June 1934-8th May 1998)

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