Raymond Martin, professor emeritus of music, passed away Friday in Pella at age 77. During his 43-year career at Central College, Martin passed on his love for music to his students. He also guided them in performance as conductor of the Central College Community Orchestra from 1970-96. Martin performed as a talented clarinetist with the Des Moines Symphony for 28 years.
Martin was born in 1939 in Quapaw, Oklahoma. He received a bachelor’s degree in music education from the University of Wichita in 1961 and a master’s degree in music from Wichita State University in 1965. He earned a D.M.A. degree at the University of Missouri, Kansas City in 1973. Martin joined the Central faculty in 1965 as an instructor of music. He later held the position of M. Joan Kuyper Farver Endowed Chair in Music and professor of music until his retirement in 2005.
Martin’s wife Robin served for 20 years as director of Central’s Geisler Library and associate professor of library science. The couple had two sons, Joseph and Phillip, who are professional musicians in New York and Chicago.
Throughout his career, Martin studied with world-class musicians and conductors. He also served six years as chair of the Central College Music Department. Friend and colleague Gabriel Espinosa, associate professor of music at Central, said Martin was extremely passionate about world music, even traveling twice to the Yucatan to experience the music there and bringing home local instruments, such as the massive tunkul. Martin also established a world music course at Central.
“He was a wonderful all-around musician,” said Espinosa. “He was deeply interested in world music, but also deeply interested in jazz. He had it all—knowledge, talent and passion.” Espinosa said Martin was “incredibly humble and giving. He was always willing to help, always willing to make sure the faculty worked together.”
Davis Folkerts, professor emeritus of music, said, “In all of Ray’s interactions—with students, faculty, administration and other musicians—he was always a sensitive, kind human being. He was committed to excellence and sought to bring out the best in his students.”
Folkerts also praised Martin’s ever-present sense of humor, which he described as “very subtle, never ever bordering on the coarse but always tremendously clever.”
In a letter announcing his retirement, Martin said he “enjoyed every year of preparing teachers and performers of music, conducting and growing the orchestra into a fine institution for 25 years, introducing and integrating the serious study of jazz and world music into the lives of students and my colleagues, performing with and mentoring clarinetists, flautists, oboists, bassoonists and saxophonists are all contributions that I will remember and cherish.”
A memorial service will be held in Pella at a future date.