Musical tribute set at college for late composer, professor

Charles Ray Loring was known for his work composing for television, including scores for PBS programs such as ''Nova'' and ''Frontline.'' (The Boston Globe/1996 file)

Charles Ray Loring of Georgetown, a well-known composer and professor of music, suffered a fatal heart attack in September while hiking in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. He was 65.

Loring is remembered today at a concert dedicated to his memory at Northern Essex Community College in Haverhill.

The concert by the Essex Chamber Music Players, based at Northern Essex, launches its 2008-2009 season. It features Michael Finegold on flute, Emmanuel Feldman on cello, and David Pihl on piano.

Loring was a member of the ensemble's board of composers.

A lifelong resident of Georgetown, Loring was well known for his work composing for television, including more than 100 scores for PBS programs, among them "Nova" and "Frontline," along with music for the History Channel and the Discovery Channel.

Loring was a graduate of Perley High School in Georgetown and Yale University. He was a Woodrow Wilson fellow at Brandeis University during his graduate years. A classically trained pianist, he wrote the score for the 1971 film "Ruby" at age 28.

Loring taught at Endicott College in Beverly from 1980 to 1992 and was on the music faculty at Gordon College in Wenham at the time of his death.

Today's concert features a new Local Cultural History through Music piece, "Whittier Sketches for Flute and Cello," based on four periods of author John Greenleaf Whittier's life, composed by J. Windel Brown, a math professor emeritus at Northern Essex.

The concert is at 2:30 p.m. in the Technology Building on the college's Haverhill campus. Tickets are $10, $5 for students, and free for Northern Essex students with a college identification.

Call 978-470-1584 or visit www.essexchambermusicplayers.org/index.html.

GET IT ONLINE: The Salem Arts Association has begun publishing a semiannual e-magazine featuring reviews of association events, member profiles, photos, links, and more.

Ellen Hardy is managing editor and James Goncalves art director for the magazine. Writers included Robert Kelly, Susan Jacobs, and association members Marianne Shin, Sara Ashodian, and Susan Fader.

The magazine can be downloaded from www.salemartsassociation.org.

AUTHOR'S CORNER: Anita Shreve appears at The Music Hall in Portsmouth, N.H., at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday as part of the series Writers on a New England Stage. The best-selling author discusses her new book, "Testimony," and her life as a writer. Her presentation is followed by a live interview with Laura Knoy of New Hampshire Public Radio. . . . "Leviathan: The History of Whaling in America," by Eric Jay Dolin of Marblehead, was recently named an honors book in nonfiction in the eighth annual Massachusetts Book Awards. The book also was awarded a silver medal in history in the 2008 Independent Publisher Book Awards. . . . Helen Wisocki of Newburyport reads from her first book, "Innocence Betrayed - A Dad's Story of Clergy Misconduct," cowritten with C.J. Szajnecki, at The Book Rack in Newburyport at 6:30 p.m. Thursday. Wisocki is the owner of Headlines Boutique in Newburyport. . . . Joseph Garland of Gloucester reads from his new book, "Unknown Soldiers: Reliving World War II in Europe," at Jabberwocky Bookshop in Newburyport at 7 p.m. Thursday. The book, which began as Garland's wartime notebooks, traces his years as a Harvard student and a soldier with the Army's 45th Infantry Division.

IN LOCAL GALLERIES: "Up-Close-And-Personal," an exhibition of paintings by Sand T of Malden, opens in The Little Art Gallery Under the Stars at LynnArts in Lynn with a reception from 2-4 p.m. Saturday. The show includes nearly 50 mixed-media paintings on acrylic glass and hardboard that document the artist's personal experience in a multicultural setting. The works are a combination of sketches, computer images, Polaroid photographs, floor plans, journal excerpts, and trilingual text she has collected through the years. The show runs through Jan. 17. . . . Paula Beaulieu celebrates "Camaraderie" with a show and sale at her studio at 2 Emerald Ave., Salem, from 1-5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Featured are recent watercolors and mixed-media works that focus on people's similarities and differences. . . . Watercolors by Ann Jones are on exhibit in the Wings Gallery of the Newburyport Art Association through the end of the month. A reception with the artist is 5-7 p.m. Friday.

Items can be sent to wdkilleen@gmail.com. Photos can be sent to globenorth@globe.com.