Boyer College remembers two beloved former professors, Dr. Arthur Frank and George Gray.
Dr. Arthur Frank (1933-2023)
Born on February 22, 1933 in Brooklyn, NY, Dr. Arthur Frank studied at Trenton State College and The Juilliard School, after which he completed his master's degree in music composition at The College of New Jersey and his doctor of musical arts (DMA) at Temple University. He was the first recipient to receive the DMA degree from Temple.
Frank began his career as a music teacher and band director at Hamilton West High School. He was inducted into the U.S. Army in 1956, where he taught at the Army's band school and performed around the world with his Army Combo. He later became the choir director for Steinert High School in Hamilton, NJ, followed by positions as assistant professor, choir/musical director and the first chair of the fine arts department at Rider University from 1962-1969. In 1969, Frank joined the faculty of the Department of Music Education at Temple, where he retired as professor emeritus after 27 years.
Outside of academia, Frank was involved as music director for several area theater companies including the Lambertville Music Circus, Bucks County Playhouse, Trenton Theater in the Park, Bordentown Theater, Foundation Theater at Burlington County Community College, Bristol Riverside Theater and the McCarter Theater. He was also an avid golfer and tennis player who competed in championship golf tournaments and at the NJ state level on a USTA 4.0 Championship Tennis team.
Read the full obituary for Arthur Frank.
George Gray (1947-2023)
George A. Gray, III was born in Red Bank, NJ on May 26, 1947. Gray attended Westminster Choir College as a voice major and subsequently received master's degrees in voice and composition from Mannes College of Music and The Juilliard School, both on scholarships.
After graduation, Gray served as choirmaster at Trinity Lutheran Church in Brooklyn and then as an artist-in-residence at the famed Brooklyn Academy of Music. Having established himself in lyric and Wagnerian opera, Gray's opera career blossomed as he took on roles across the world such as Siegfried of Richard Wagner's Der Ring Des Nibelungen at the Zürich Opera House in 1988 and 1989; Énée of Hector Berlioz's Les Troyens at the opening of the Opéra Bastille in Paris in 1990; Siegfried again at the Arizona Opera in 1996; and as Tajomaru in the 1996 world premiere of Mayako Kuba's Rashomon, a role written specifically for his voice.
After retiring from opera, Gray taught voice at Boyer College of Music and Dance at Temple University and at Drexel University, as well as privately from his home. From 2008-2022, he was music director at Morrisville United Methodist Church in Morrisville, PA.