Raymond Torres-Santos - Overview

Overview

Dr. Raymond Torres-Santos, was recently named Dean of the College of the Arts (Music, Film, Theater, Design, Dance, Art) at California State University, Long Beach (Los Angeles County) and was previously Dean of the College of Arts and Communication at William Paterson University in Wayne, New Jersey.

Dr. Torres-Santos earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from the Conservatory of Music of Puerto Rico and the University of Puerto Rico. Later he completed graduate studies at UCLA earning M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in music composition, music theory and literature. In addition, Torres-Santos completed post doctoral studies in Europe. First at the Ferienkurse fur Neue Musik, Darmstadt, Germany; later at the Uhiversity of Padua, Italy. Further post-doctoral studies include those at the Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics at Stanford University, Eastman School of Music and Harvard University.

Torres-Santos was considered a prodigious child, since he started performing professionally while in elementary school. While at college, he started his musical career as a pianist and arranger for the Puerto Rico Orchestra, Los Hispanos and the Mario Ortiz Orchestra at the Caribe Hilton Hotel, where he accompanied world class performers, such as: Chita Rivera, Robert Goulet, Dianne Carroll and The Stylistics.

As an arranger, he has worked alongside many artists, including Julio Iglesias, Danny Rivera, Ednita Nazario, Elvis Crespo, Placido Domingo, Andrea Bocelli, Angela Gheorghiu, Ana Maria Martinez and Juan Luis Guerra . He was the first Puerto Rican to receive the Frank Sinatra Award in jazz composing and arranging and also the Henry Mancini Award in film scoring in Los Angeles. Torres-Santos has also received other awards from many organizations, including ASCAP, BMI, Meet the Composer, American Composers Forum, the American Music Center in New York.

Torres-Santos has maintained a prolific artistic career while at the same time developing his career as a music educator.

After completing his doctoral studies, Torres-Santos became a music professor at various colleges including California State University,San Bernardino, University of Puerto Rico and was appointed Chancellor of the Puerto Rico Conservatory of Music. Since the beginning of the 21st century, Torres-Santos has lived in the New York City area. He was a professor at City University of New York (CUNY) for 6 years. In June, 2008, Torres-Santos was appointed Dean of the College of the Arts and Communication of William Paterson University in Wayne, New Jersey; and in 2011 appointed Dean of the College of the Arts at California State University, Long Beach.

He has traveled extensively both to perform as a musician and conductor and as a guest speaker at international events, such as the 28th and 29th International Conferences of the International Society for Music Education held in Bologna, Italy in July, 2008; and in Beijing, China in July 2010.