NEWS: New music faculty member @ WSU

New WSU Music Faculty 

WHO:     Dr. Shannon B. Roberts

WHAT:    New music faculty member

WHERE: Weber State University Department of Performing Arts

WHEN:   Beginning Fall semester, 2012

Weber State University Department of Performing Arts is happy to present, Dr. Shannon B. Roberts, our newest faculty member in the department. He is taking the position left by the Dr. Donald K. Keipp when he retired after this past spring semester. Dr. Roberts responsibilities include Wildcat Marching Band, WSU Jazz Ensemble, WSU Jazz Combo,  Music Theory, Pep Band, Friday Master Classes, Composing, Performing, Conducting, and Music Education.

He has already fielded his first WSU Band Camp, the week before academic classes started in August, preparing Marching Band members for their vigorous fall semester schedule. He performed with the WSU Jazz Combo before the recent Sid and Mary Foulger School of Music Gala, playing flute and trombone. He just hosted the WSU Marching Band Review this past Tuesday in the Stewart Stadium, with marching bands and their directors from high schools throughout the state. He first performance directing the WSU Jazz Ensemble is Thursday, October 4, at 7:30 pm in the Allred Theater, Val A. Browning Center for the Performing Arts. 

He is a nationally known composer, arranger, author, clinician, and music educator. Originally from Vista, California, he has been residing in Utah for many years. He holds Ph.D. and Master of Music degrees in music composition from the University of Utah; a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology from the United States International University in San Diego, California; an Associate of Arts Degree in Applied Arts from San Diego Mesa College; and is a graduate of the United States Navy School of Music in Little Creek, Virginia.

Dr. Roberts has been a regular performer with the Salt Lake City Jazz Orchestra and the Great Basin St. Band; and the Musical Director for the Spare Parts Big Band and also performs with his own jazz trio, quintet, and 8-piece band. As a brass specialist on trumpet, trombone and tuba, he has played with many national artists like Eddie Daniels, Frank Sinatra Jr., Dee Daniels, Spanky Wilson, Jeff Hamilton, Maureen McGovern, and the Manhattan Transfer. 

Before moving to Utah to pursue doctoral studies, Dr. Roberts was the Musical Director for Sea World of San Diego and a local studio musician and arranger. He is the former Assistant Director of Bands at the University of Utah and was the Director of Jazz Ensemble One for ten years. Dr. Roberts taught high school and community college at several Southern California schools, was a Staff Arranger and Euphonium soloist with the United States Navy Band in San Diego, and played Euphonium for the Disneyland Circus Band. He was the Director of Bands at Woods Cross High School in Woods Cross, Utah for seven years, and was one of the substitute conductors for the Utah Youth Symphony. Recently he was a professor of music theory at Dixie State College in St. George, Utah before coming to Weber State University this year.

For more information about Dr. Roberts: 801-626-7073 or shannonroberts@weber.edu