My father, Donald Ray, who has died aged 81, was a gifted musician and teacher. From 1965 he was a lecturer at St Mary's college of education at Strawberry Hill, Twickenham, Middlesex. He eventually became head of a lively music department there and was especially proud of his chapel choir.
Don was a skilled composer and arranger. His abilities as an accompanist led to him playing the organ for Sir David Willcocks at the Messiah from Scratch concerts at the Royal Albert Hall. He played for the Chelsea Opera Group, was a keen member of Bernard Robinson's music camp in Buckinghamshire and conducted the South West Essex Choir for 16 years.
Don was born in Chingford, Essex. An only child, he displayed an extraordinary musical talent from an early age. He studied at Hull University, developing his skills on the piano, organ and harpsichord, and became interested in keyboard harmony. In 1951 he began teaching music at Buckhurst Hill county high school, Chigwell. Three years later he married Barbara, whom he had met at the age of 11.
He moved to the Latymer school in Edmonton in 1961, remaining there until he was appointed to a lecturing post at St Mary's. He took early retirement from St Mary's in 1983, when he joined the Associated Board of Music as an examiner. In 1985 he became the accompanist for the Crouch End Festival Chorus in north London and helped with its development.
Barbara's death in 2005 was a great loss to him, but he took comfort from the home and garden they had created together in Chingford. There are few other places where he could have practised on his two grand pianos and the church organ installed in the attic.
On Monday mornings he played the violin in a string quartet, a passion he continued until the end of his life. He put on regular piano recitals with friends, sometimes featuring up to 12 hands on three keyboards, and raising thousands of pounds for East Anglia's Children's Hospices. Just four days before his death he was choosing music for a new choir he was establishing for the University of the Third Age.
Don touched many lives with his kindness and wicked sense of humour, gently nurturing talent and delighting all who heard him play the piano.
He is survived by three daughters, Elizabeth, Caroline and myself, and eight grandchildren.