Ralph Rizzolo

(November 13, 1931 - November 8, 2023)

When Ralph was 12 years old, his Uncle Lou presented him with a saxophone and told him that

would be his instrument in what became Sonny Barb and his Orchestra. With his cousin Sonny

and their bandmates, Ralph launched his musical career, playing weddings and dances in his

hometown of Newark, New Jersey, throughout his teen years. He attended a vocational high

school, where he learned draftsmanship and carpentry, and later earned his Bachelor of Arts

degree at Montclair State Teachers’ College and a Masters degree in conducting and clarinet

performance at Columbia University. In his twenties, he studied and taught and played music,

including in the New Jersey National Guard and in a chamber music program at the New School

in New York City, where he met the young violinist, Joyce Ruth Lipson, who was to become his

wife of 64 years.

In 1959, Ralph and Joyce eloped and headed west in a red and white 1955 Chevrolet with a

13-foot trailer in tow. Along the way, they camped along the Colorado River, in the Garden of

the Gods, and the New Mexico desert and visited the Aspen Music Festival. Quite an adventure

for two city kids from Newark and Brooklyn!

They drove west in pursuit of a job, and Ralph was hired to start a band program at an

elementary school in Parker, Arizona, on the Arizona/California border. The following year, they

moved to Scottsdale, Arizona, where Joyce joined the Phoenix Symphony Orchestra and Ralph

taught clarinet and saxophone lessons in his home studio, continued to perform, taught

instrumental music at two elementary schools and later directed the band and eventually

chaired the fine arts department at Scottsdale High School. During that time, he earned his

Doctorate in Music Education from Arizona State University, and his two daughters were born.

At the age of 34, Ralph was appointed the Executive Director of the first Arizona Commission on

the Arts and Humanities. (A job he got when the chairman of the council mentioned that he was

looking for an Executive Director and Ralph said, “I can do that!”) Later, we moved to

Washington, DC, where Ralph served as the Director of Research and Development at the

American Symphony Orchestra League on the grounds of the new Wolf Trap Center for the

Performing Arts, and then as the Assistant Director for Music Programs in the National

Endowment for the Arts, traveling the country representing the Endowment at national meetings

and forums, meeting with symphony and opera boards of directors as an advisor and

consultant, and discovering music and musicians that would receive the support of the new

agency. He returned to Arizona in 1976 to become the Executive Vice President and Managing

Director of the Phoenix Symphony Orchestra, and later moved to Charleston, South Carolina,

where he managed the Charleston Symphony Orchestra. Music was both his career and his

passion. In his final days, some of Ralph’s most cherished memories were moments when an

ensemble he played with or the musicians during a performance he attended achieved

moments of pure bliss.

After Ralph retired and he and Joyce moved to Maryland to be close to family, Ralph did

instrument repairs from his home and taught clarinet and saxophone privately, as he had

throughout his life, seeing his last student in the days just before the pandemic shut the world

down. He was 88 years old. By all accounts, he was a remarkable and beloved teacher.

Ralph also built furniture and models of trolleys and trucks, for which he drafted, published and

sold plans. He was an avid reader, and was a voracious student of American history.

Above all, Ralph was devoted to his family -- his wife Joyce, his daughters Jayme and Lisa, and

his four grandchildren, Isabel, Claire, Alex and Laura. The support he gave Jayme and Lisa

throughout their lives was unwavering. Their lives were constantly enriched with beautiful

homes filled with music and art, concerts, opera, ballet and theater performances, trips to art

galleries, and family vacations to summer music festivals and, of course, music lessons. He was

present at all of his grandchildren’s recitals and dance performances, applauding in the

audience, and was an enthusiastic participant in dressing up for a themed birthday party, going

trick-or-treating and attending school events. And he was happiest when the whole family

gathered around the dining room table eating Joyce’s homemade lasagna and meatballs

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.hinesrinaldifuneralhome.com for the Rizzolo family.