Ray Shows received his M.M. in violin performance from Boston University (magna cum laude) and his B.M. from Florida State University. He made his solo violin debut with orchestra in his native Atlanta. A McKnight Fellowship prizewinner in 2004, Ray is a founding member of the acclaimed Artaria String Quartet and has performed concerts in major concert halls in New York, Boston, Chicago, Cleveland, Philadelphia, Atlanta, across the U.S. and in Europe. He has been a featured artist on ABC television, National Public Radio, Canadian Broadcasting and at the L’Epau Festival in France. An Artist/Teacher in Residence at the renowned Tanglewood Institute and at The Quartet Program, Shows is currently Artistic Director of the Artaria Chamber Music School, Stringwood Festival, and the prestigious Saint Paul String Quartet Competition. His students attend major conservatories, are Schubert Club prizewinners, and have appeared on National Public Radio’s From the Top. Appointed to multi-year teaching residencies at Boston College, Viterbo University, Florida State University and Baldwin-Wallace Conservatory, Shows is the recipient of prestigious grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, Chamber Music America, and the Heartland Fund.

In 2010 he was awarded the MNSOTA Master Teacher Award. His principal teachers were Roman Totenberg and Gerardo Ribeiro. Eugene Lehner, Raphael Hillyer, and members of the Emerson, Cleveland, Budapest, Muir and La Salle Quartets have mentored him in chamber music. Ray plays on a rare French violin made by Andrea Castagneri, Paris 1735 and bow by French archetier Pierre Simon. He has been serving on the faculty of St. Olaf since 2000.