Directing Harmony

Name: Ray Chew
Current Position: Musical Director, Arranger, Composer, and Producer on American Idol
Education: Manhattan School of Music

Having discovered his passion and talent for music at an early age, Ray Chew has a 25-plus-year history of working with a range of talent including Aretha Franklin, Beyoncé, Justin Bieber, Rihanna, Carrie Underwood, Prince, James Taylor, Queen Latifah, Ne-Yo, Barry Manilow, T.I., Shirley Caesar, and Quincy Jones. Today, he is the musical director on one of television’s most popular star-making machines.

How he got the job: In September 2010, when executives from InterscopeRecords were brought on board to handle music for the newly revived American Idol TV show, Chew was on their short list of prospects to become musical director. “I was brought in as a primary candidate for the job,” he says. “Ron Fair [a record industry veteran] called me, and then I had a series of interviews and meetings. My credits included many years of working in the music industry.” Chew had the right pedigree and started at American Idol in January 2011.

(Continued on next page)

Early training: Chew’s love affair with music began when he was a toddler. At age 5, he was awarded the Vladimir Horowitz scholarship to attend a children’s program at Juilliard. “I always knew this was what I wanted to do,” he says. “My father was a musician and I used to mimic him, but he quickly realized I had real talent.” After Juilliard, Chew attended Harlem School of the Arts, Third Street Music School Settlement, and Mannes School of Music (now Mannes College The New School for Music). He studied music every day and as a teen attended New York’s High School of Music & Art (now part of LaGuardia High School) and Manhattan School of Music. Over the years, Chew arranged, produced, and composed music, and performed at live and televised musical events.

Prep work: Chew has worked as a musical director for a variety of programs including NBC’s The Singing Bee and BET’s Sunday Best. His first professional job took him on the road with Melba Moore. In the early ’80s he was a musician on the fast-paced set of Saturday Night Live during the time when Eddie Murphy was one of the show’s “Not Ready for Prime Time Players.” In 1992, Chew came on as musical director for It’s Showtime at the Apollo. He stayed for 13 seasons, working each week with 40 to 50 contestants and professional acts. “Working on Showtime prepared me for what was to come,” says Chew. “There was a small budget, and we taped 12 shows in one weekend. It was a lot of work.”

(Continued on next page)

Current responsibilities: At American Idol, Chew works on rehearsals and contributes to camera blocking and staging. He also produces music for iTunes downloads and works in the studio with contestants as a producer and mixer. “There is not a lot of time and there is no room for error. We produce 10 to 12 songs over a weekend, master them by Tuesday, and have them on iTunes by Wednesday.”

Navigating challenges: Chew acknowledges that challenges occur in every job, but his philosophy is to resolve them quickly and leave no issues lingering. “We have artist challenges, scheduling difficulties, and sometimes creative challenges,” he says. “A producer may have one vision and the artist another. I have to navigate between the producers and artists.” During President Barack Obama’s first inauguration, Chew was at the helm of the music for the Neighborhood Inaugural Ball. Stevie Wonder was on the show, and its tight schedule left little time to rehearse. Sting and Stevie were singing a song together, and during a commercial Stevie wanted to make a change. “I was jotting down the changes to explain them to the musicians. Next thing I know the countdown begins and we’re back on the air–and it worked out.” Chew understandably lists the event as a significant career highlight, to say the least. Working frantically, his musical team couldn’t take time to enjoy the momentous day–until the president took the oath of office. “We never stopped production,” says Chew, “but this was such an historic and emotional event that everyone took time to soak in the moment.”