
Ray Sapirstein
euphonium, cornet and trombone
Ray was born in NYC and moved to Maine in 2001 from Austin, TX. He has been a session and touring player, writing horn arrangements on trumpet, baritone, and valve trombone, for more than 40 years. He has played in a great variety of genres, including latin, jazz, and indie pop as a member of The Wayfarers, A Don Piper Situation, The Poison Tree, Balthrop, Alabama, The Hadacol Bouncers, and El Malo, among others. He is also a historian, professor, and writer.
His mom was an unaccompanied child refugee from Nazi Germany via Houston, Texas, and his father was born the son of an undocumented migrant. All of his grandparents were immigrants. The majority of his relatives live in Mexico City, where his great grandparents settled. He identifies with the immigrant experience and with Jewish and Mexican American cultures.