Roger Bobo

Biography

Roger Bobo is very much in demand as a teacher of all brass instruments, presenting masterclasses, conducting brass ensembles, and adjudicating in the major solo and brass ensemble competitions throughout Europe, North America Japan and Australia. He is a faculty member of the Fiesole School of Music near Florence, Italy, and is the Professor of Advanced Tuba and Euphonium Studies at the Lausanne Conservatory in Switzerland. Most recently, Roger has become Professor of Tuba at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester, England. He has also been engaged on numerous occasions to rehearse professional orchestral brass sections in the preparation of the major symphonic repertoire. Many students of Roger Bobo now occupy positions in major symphony orchestras throughout the world, and others have gone on to develop their own successful solo careers.

As a conductor, Roger Bobo has a strong background playing for and studying the rehearsal and conducting technique of the greatest conductors in the world. In his role as tubist with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, he has had close associations with Zubin Mehta, Carlo Maria Giulini and Andre Previn, not to mention the many world class guest conductors of the LAPO. Roger Bobo has guest conducted the Los Angeles Philharmonic in a series of children's concerts, but his main formation in California was the founding and direction of the Topanga Philharmonic. Made up of LAPO members and greater Los Angeles free lance musicians, the Topanga Philharmonic has seen Roger Bobo on the podium in the direction of some of the major symphonic repertoire.

Especially now that he has left the rigorous and time consuming activity of a performing artist, Roger Bobo is dedicating his talents fulltime to conducting and teaching and has recently been the guest conductor of the Regina Symphony Orchestra (Canada) and the Trondheim Symphony Orchestra (Norway) in addition to chamber orchestra conducting activities in Switzerland and Japan. In his position of brass section conductor of the Italian Youth Orchestra, he has enjoyed a close continuing collaboration with maestri Mehta and Giulini in addition to other international conductors including Muti and Sinopoli. He is one of Europe's most popolar brass ensemble conductors, having recently worked with the Italian Brass Ensemble, the INN Brass (Austria) with whom he has recorded, and the faculty brass ensembles of the Hamamatsu Brass Academy (Japan) and Domaine Forget (Canada).

Increasingly in demand as a symphonic band director, Roger Bobo has recently conducted the Athens Symphony, and conducted and recorded with the Slovenia Orchestra. In 2002 he conducted on tour with two professional symphonic bands in Russia.

He has been the Artistic Director of the Santa Fiora Festival in Tuscany, Italy, Swiss Brass Week in Leukerbad Switzerland, and Verso il Millennio International Tuba Euphonium Conference in Riva del Garda, Italy.

From: International Tuba Euphonium Association Honorary Life Members