Ráyo Furuta

Links:   Artist Website   |   Media   |   Teaching/Student Youtube

Dubbed “The Rockstar of the Flute” by the Informador de Guadalajara (Mexico) and considered the "Prodigy of the Great Flutist, Carol Wincenc" (San Jose Mercury News), Mexican-Japanese American flutist Ráyo (Ray) Furuta has performed worldwide as a commanding and versatile performing artist. Officiated as a cultural ambassador to the United States of America at the age of 25, Furuta has toured as a performer and teacher world-wide. He has performed for internationally recognized names including the Grammy Award-winning Silk Road Ensemble founded by Yo-Yo Ma, The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, The United Nations, and the Mainly Mozart, Okayama, Sarasota, and Yellowbarn Music Festivals to name only a few. As a dedicated teaching artist, Furuta is the Professor of Flute and Chamber Music at San Jose State University, as well as a Lecturer of Performance Practice, Community Engagement, and Flute at Santa Clara University. He has held residencies and given master classes at institutions including the Oberlin and San Francisco Conservatories, Stanford University, Lebanese American University of Beirut, UC San Diego, University of Victoria (BC), and New York University, among many others and has served as a Visiting Professor of Flute at the Cleveland Institute of Music during the Cleveland Orchestra's national tour. As a recipient of the prestigious Staller Scholar and distinguished alumni “40 under 40” awards, Ráyo Furuta holds his doctor of musical arts degree from Stony Brook University where he was a pupil of Carol Wincenc and the Emerson String Quartet. Ráyo Furuta is a Burkart Artist and performs on a Lilian Burkart 9k gold flute and .998 silver flute with a 14k gold head joint.