Elmer Ramsey

Ramsey was born in North Dakota, but grew up in Kelso, Washington.^[3] He graduated from the University of Portland and had his own 1940's-style big band on a Washington radio station. Ramsey later did West Coast tours with singers such as Mel Tormé.^[4] He also did studio work for NBC and 20th Century Fox and conducted concerts at venues in the UK, Israel, Germany, and Austria.^[5][6] He has performed on The Ford Show and The Jimmy Durante Show.^[7]

Ramsey and his wife Elaine and their children moved to Los Angeles in 1956. His California debut took place in 1958 with Ferde Grofe at the Hollywood Bowl.^[3] He moved to Thousand Oaks in 1965 in order to become a music professor at California Lutheran University. At CLU he became the director and conductor of the Conejo Symphony Orchestra, and also wrote the university's fight song.^[8] Under the direction of Ramsey, the Cal Lutheran orchestra and choir performed at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion with musicians such as Marni Nixon, Roger Williams, Gordon MacRae and Florence Henderson.^[9] He conducted concerts for 18 years at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles.^[3]

In 1992 Ramsey received the Don Triunfo Award from the Conejo Historical Society.^[3] He received an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from California Lutheran University in 2009.^[2][9]