The past few years in the career of multi-instrumentalist/composer Ray Lynch have been particularly hectic. First, he continued to capture the hearts of millions of record buyers while obtaining platinum status along the way for this now classic work, "Deep Breakfast." Next, his last release, "No Blue Thing," was on Billboard's New Age chart for 122 weeks and was #1 for 35 weeks.
With his first new release since 1989, Ray Lynch has successfully composed another album of barrier-breaking music. "Nothing Above My Shoulders But The Evening" represents the next step in his remarkable career of the industry's most unlikely phenomenon.
The emotionally provocative power of Ray Lynch's music cuts through the rather superficial divisions of mind and experience and consequently reaches across all age, ethnic, economic and educational boundaries. He has received thousands of letters from an unprecedented range of listeners, from college professors, stock brokers, people young and old, all with one thing in common: they have been moved by his music, and it has touched their lives.
What is it in Ray Lynch's music that moves all these different people?
Lynch says, "For me, music is emotion translated into sound. How good it is depends on the depth of feeling and the degree of craftsmanship brought to the translation. It's up to the listener, of course, to determine (or discover) the worth of any music he or she listens to. It's up to the composer to love what he makes enough to make it beautiful. The bottom line for both is participation at the level of feeling."
A native of Texas, Ray Lynch's classical training began very early with the piano. At age 12, after hearing Andres Segovia's recordings, he was inspired to take up the classical guitar, which quickly became his primary passion.
Years later, Lynch moved to Barcelona to study guitar with Eduardo Sainz de la Maza. After three years of full-time study in Spain, he returned to Austin, where he spent the next three years studying composition at the University of Texas and composing symphonic and chamber music, some of which was performed by the Dallas Symphony Orchestra.
At the University of Texas Lynch was invited to join a group of Madrigal singers who needed a lutenist. He learned to play the lute within a matter of months. His growing expertise with the lute earned him a second invitation, this time from the Renaissance Quartet. He moved to New York City where he spent the next seven years performing with the Quartet and other "Early Music" groups that were at the core of New York City's revival of Medieval, Renaissance, and Baroque music.
Lynch eventually moved to a 125-acre farm in Maine, traveling around the country for performances. This seemingly idyllic situation eventually precipitated a profound "personal and spiritual crisis" in which he dropped all the trappings of his musical career and set out for California where he began a period of intense study and spiritual growth.
With renewed awareness and strength, Lynch immersed himself in his creative work again. Today, members of the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra regularly join Lynch in his recording studio to perform on the numerous acoustic instruments called for in his richly textured scores--flute, violin, viola, piano, cello, oboe, French horn, English horn, and clarinet, among others. Basing his composition in traditional harmony and counterpoint and using a wide range of acoustic and electronic instruments, Ray Lynch has created a unique lyrical style which has reached and moved millions of music lovers.
