Dr. Richard Roper

Senior Brass and Trumpet Coach

Dr. Richard Roper serves as Director of the El Camino Wind Orchestra and Honors Wind Ensemble. Committed to arts education, he also serves on the faculties of the University of California Santa Cruz, Santa Clara University, College of San Mateo, and West Valley College. For many years he taught classes and conducted the brass choir at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music Pre-College. In addition, he has held previous positions on the music faculties of the University of Maine and California State University Stanislaus.

As a trumpeter, Dr. Roper has performed with many Northern California ensembles including Symphony Silicon Valley/Symphony San Jose, Opera San Jose, Santa Cruz Symphony, Monterey Symphony, San Francisco Chamber Orchestra, Pacific Chamber Orchestra, Oakland Symphony, and others. His arrangements and editions of early music for brass are available through Charles Colin, Cherry Music, and BVD Press. Dr. Roper holds degrees from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, Yale School of Music, and the University of Maryland. As a Harriet Hale Woolley Scholar, he spent a year studying and performing in Paris. In addition, he has studied and performed at the Aspen Music festival, the Music Academy of the West, the Norfolk Chamber Music festival, and the Mendocino Music Festival. His major teachers include Chris Gekker, Allan Dean, Mario Guarneri, Antoine Cure, and Raymond Mase.