Since 1974 a member of the music faculty at Jacksonville State University in northeast Alabama, Dr. Roberts holds degrees from both The Hartt School and The University of Iowa, where his DMA in trombone performance and pedagogy was conferred in 1977. His major trombone studies were with Dr. John Hill at Iowa and Robert Meyers at Hartt, and he has also studied with the late Frank Crisafulli, Vernon Forbes, John Coffey, Israel Kopmar, and Robert Briggs. Dr. Roberts continues to be active in orchestral, chamber, and solo performance and is currently principal trombone in both the Rome (GA) and Gadsden (AL) Symphony Orchestras. He has performed with the Hartford Symphony, the Omaha and Quad-Cities (IA) Symphonies, and orchestras of the Connecticut Opera Association and the Joffrey Ballet. He was a founding member of the Jacksonville Brass Quintet and has performed with the ensemble in concerts throughout the southeast for more than twenty years. A frequent recitalist, Dr. Roberts has appeared before audiences at the Music Teachers National Association's national convention and at the state convention of the Alabama Music Teachers Association. He frequently performs at the International Trombone Festival as a member of the Cramer Trombone Choir, an ensemble of college trombone professors. He was an invited soloist at the 2001 Eastern Trombone Workshop in Washington, DC, where he performed Darius Milhaud's Concertino d'Hiver with the US Army Orchestra. Currently chair of the Research Committee of the International Trombone Association, Dr. Roberts was Assistant Editor for Reasearch of the ITA Journal from 1986-91 and his articles on aspects of trombone pedagogy and literature appear frequently in its pages. In February of 2002, Dr. Roberts organized and hosted the first regional trombone workshop ever held at Jacksonville State University, the Northeast Alabama Mini-BoneFest, and plans are currently under way for BoneFest II/2003. |
