Remembering Marcella DeCray

Marcella DeCray, with SFCMP co-founders
Charles Boone (left) and Jean-Louis LeRoux (right).

This week we mourn the passing of Marcella DeCray, a dear friend and co-founder of the San Francisco Contemporary Music Players.  She was the first Executive Director of the group, from 1974 until 1988, and served on the board of directors from its inception in 1978 until 1989.  In that time, she helped to establish the ensemble as the strong and well-respected organization that it remains today.

Her performances as the harpist of the ensemble during those years received warm reviews from the critics of the time: Robert Commanday wrote in the San Francisco Chronicle that “DeCray’s delicate treatment of the harp part…was rather haunting”; and Charles Shere wrote in the Tribune that “DeCray [played] with conviction, accuracy and real refinement."

Our next concert on February 27, 2012 will be dedicated to the memory of her life. UPDATE: An obituary is available here.

Marcella DeCray (far right) with the ensemble
and composer Gunther Schuller in 1985.