Walter Gray

January 03, 1929 - February 07, 2019

Obituary

Madison-

Walter Bernard Gray, age 90, died on Thursday, February 7, 2019, at Capitol Lakes in Madison, Wisconsin. He was born on January 3rd, 1929, in Meadville, Pennsylvania, the son of Floyd Gray and Nellie O’Neill.

He graduated from Duquesne University’s School of Music in Pittsburgh, PA and completed his M.A. and Ph.D in musicology at the University of Wisconsin Madison. A recipient of a Fulbright scholarship, he studied in Frankfurt, Germany. A professor of musicology at the UW-Madison and a former dean of the North Carolina School of the Arts in Winston-Salem, Walter published numerous scholarly articles and hosted a radio program on Wisconsin Public Radio station WHA. A long-time resident of Madison, Walter contributed much to the community as a choir director, church organist, and by writing much-loved program notes for the UW Symphony Orchestra.

Survivors include his brother Floyd (Bill) Gray and wife Daniele, long-time residents of Beaurecueil, France.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 10:30 a.m. on Monday, February 11 at ST. PATRICK CATHOLIC CHURCH, 404 E. Main Street, Madison with Msgr. Kevin Holmes officiating. Visitation will be held from 10 a.m. until the time of Mass.

To view and sign this guestbook, please visit: www.ryanfuneralservice.com.

Events

There are no events for Walter yet.

Photos

Add photos
of Walter

No photos of Walter have been shared yet.

Memories

Add a memory of
Walter

Joe Gruendler

Other • 4 years ago

I just now happened on this obituary, hope it is not too late to post some memories. Professor Gray (as I knew him) was my music appreciation teacher at the UW in the mid 60s. I was majoring in engineering, a very regimented curriculum, and a music appreciation course added some wonderful breadth to my college experience; I liked his first course so much I signed up for a second. Professor Gray was, in a way, the most influential teacher I ever had. I never pursued a career in engineering but I still spend much time listening to, enjoying and appreciating classical music. When doing so I often hear the voice of Walter Gray. The second course was entitled Opera. I had never been a fan but he won me over and my love of opera has recently had a very nice side effect - about four years ago I attended a four-day program at the Sarasota Opera and during that time fell in love with a fellow opera-lover named Marilyn; we remain in a long-distance relationship. I am writing this on New Years Eve, 2022, while visiting Marilyn in New Jersey. A tradition here, occurring on classical radio station WQXR, is an annual countdown of the listeners' favorite classical pieces as determined by an online ballot. Professor Gray was a Mozart fanatic. (I joke that we spent so much time in the first course, Symphony, that we barely got past Beethoven.) On this year's WQXR countdown, Mozart's Symphony #40 was ranked 67, Symphony #41 was ranked 41; both works we studied at length. Ranked number #23 on the countdown is Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro; in opera class we were informed, in no uncertain terms, that this is the greatest opera ever written. Hearing these familiar works certainly brings back memories. I am writing this while listening to the WQXR countdown, as these memories occur I was prompted to search for Walter Gray online and found this obituary. In the obit I learn that Professor Gray moved from the UW (retired I assume) to become Dean of the North Carolina School of Arts. By coincidence, I live thirty miles from the NCSA; how wonderful it would have been to say hello to him there and express my appreciation for how much he enriched my life. Rest in peace Professor Gray. Joe Gruendler Greensboro, North Carolina