Dr. Roger D. Briggs

Professor of Music

Theory & Composition

PAC 141; (360) 650-3868

Roger.Briggs@wwu.edu

Degrees:

• Doctorate of Musical Arts: Eastman School of Music
• Master of Music: Eastman School of Music
• Bachelor of Music: Memphis State University

Composer/conductor Roger D. Briggs joined Western's music faculty in the fall of 1989 as director of the composition program. His works have been performed in the United States, Europe and the former Soviet Union. Premiere performances include The Carnegie Recital Hall, Chicago's Cultural Arts Center, the Frederic Chopin Academy in Warsaw, and Moscow's Glinka Hall. He has received grants from the New York State Arts Council, the Indiana Arts Council, the "Meet the Composer" Foundation, the MacDowell Colony and ASCAP. Briggs received his Bachelor's degree from Memphis State University and his Master of Music and Ph.D. from The Eastman School of Music. He has studied composition with Joseph Schwantner, Samuel Adler, Peter Maxwell Davies, and Ned Rorem and was selected as "The Washington State Composer of the Year" for 1993. Recent commissions include a chamber orchestra piece for the ProMusica Chamber Orchestra of Columbus Ohio and "Tracer", a piano/orchestra work for Jeffrey Jacob recorded in January of 1994. During the summer of 1996 Briggs conducted the Prague Symphony recording of his new work for orchestra. In addition to teaching composition at Western, Briggs established the "Contemporary Chamber Players" ensemble dedicated to the performance of 20th Century compositions and was appointed conductor of the Western Symphony Orchestra in the fall of 1993.