Palestine High School Alumni Association

Elma Wayne Rapier 1947

10 / 12 / 1930  –  10 / 14 / 2005

Wayne Rapier, who played oboe in the Boston Symphony Orchestra for 25 years, died yesterday in Dana-Faber Cancer Institute. He was 75 and died after a battle with cancer.

Born in Tyler, Texas, Mr. Rapier studied at the Eastman School of Music and privately in Philadelphia with the legendary principal oboist of the Philadelphia Orchestra, Marcel Tabuteau.

At 19 Mr. Rapier began his orchestral career as principal oboist of the Indianapolis Symphony, and later played in the orchestras of Philadelphia, Kansas City, and Baltimore and at the Santa Fe Opera prior to joining the Boston Symphony in 1970. He taught at New England Conservatory, Longy School of Music, and several other schools. He was also a commercial pilot and certified flight instrument instructor.

After his retirement from the BSO a decade ago, Mr. Rapier continued to perform, but concentrated his energies on the record company he had founded, Boston Records, which he ran out of his home in Duxbury. Its catalogue grew to more than 80 compact discs of solo and chamber-music performances by major orchestral players of the past and the present, including such BSO colleagues as clarinetist Harold Wright, bassoonist Sherman Walt, oboist Alfred Genovese, bassist Edwin Barker, flutist Jacques Zoon and harpist Ann Hobson Pilot.

There are also three very beautiful records by Mr. Rapier himself; he knew the soul of his instrument.

Mr. Rapier was a congenial fellow, a Southern gentleman who never lost his Texas accent and generous style of going about his business. His longtime BSO colleague, former principal oboist Ralph Gomberg, said yesterday: ”Wayne was very talented, a solid musician who worked very hard. He understood the difficulty of maintaining a good sound on the oboe, but he could do it, and he played with spirit and sensitivity. He loved music, the Boston Symphony, and his many friends in the orchestra.”

One of Mr. Rapier’s postretirement engagements was to play the ”Vaughan Williams Concerto for Oboe” with the Plymouth Philharmonic; his daughter, Bonnie Rapier Harlow of Plympton, is a longtime member of the orchestra in the cello section, and his wife, Toni, a member of the Boston Pops Esplanade Orchestra, also frequently plays in Plymouth.

Music director Steven Karidoyanes said yesterday: ”The way he played that piece was luscious. In the dancing sections, he was sprightly and light on his feet, and when it needed to be long and plaintive, it was just that. He humanized the part. He knew this meant not playing with the most gorgeous tones all the time. He was always asking what the music was trying to say, and his response was always ‘Let’s get at it.’ That was a great lesson.”

In addition to his wife and daughter, Mr. Rapier leaves two sons, Christopher of Mentor, Ohio, and David of Mansfield; and four grandchildren.

There will be a wake Monday at 5:30 p.m. in Shepherd Funeral Home in Kingston. A memorial service is scheduled for Nov. 6 at 2 p.m. in Pilgrim Church in Duxbury.

Source: Boston Globe 10-15-2005