WILLIAM ROPER

Freelance Jazz Musician, Visual Arts Performer and Producer

William Roper studied Music and Home Economics at the Cleveland Institute of Music, Case Western Reserve University, California State University Northridge, Los Angeles City College, Carnegie-Mellon University and independently in New York City. Major teachers included Donald Smith, Ronald Bishop, Roger Bobo, Tommy Johnson, Harold MacDonald and Don Harry. His professional experience ranges from the symphony stage to free improvisation groups. He has toured North and South America and Europe with jazz and classical ensembles.

He has released five recordings as a leader, including Juneteenth, Roper's Darn Yarns, If I Ran The Circus, Still Bill's Culinary Engineering and Hippopotamus as well as five as a co-leader: The Lament of Absalom, Double Yellow, Purple Gums, Chobraty and Mo' Betta Butta.

His musicianship is represented on over 50 recordings as a sideman including projects with rock bands, poets, chamber ensembles, the Los Angeles Philharmonic and Chimurenga musician Thomas Mapfumo. He has played and/or recorded with jazz musicians including: Clayton/Hamilton Jazz Orchestra, American Jazz Institute ensembles, Los Angeles Jazz Institute ensembles, Luckman Jazz Orchestra, Bob Beldon, Dizzy Gillespy, Bobby Bradford, Anthony Braxton, John Carter, Jimmy Cleveland, Art Farmer, Douglas Ewart, Vinny Golia, Billy Higgins, Glenn Horiuchi, Clay Jenkins, Yusef Lateef, James Newton, John Rapson, Adam Rudolph, Wadada Leo Smith, Horace Tapscott, Michael Vlatkovich and Francis Wong. He is a cofounder and performing member of Judicanti Responsura, a tuba and percussion ensemble specializing in contemporary classical and improvised music. He has performed on the soundtracks of movies such as Blackhawk Down, Drum Line, Sorority Boys, Runaway Jury, The Devil's Rejects, Bewitched, Pirates of the Caribbean II & III, among others.

The areas that Roper specializes in include solo tuba performance, free improvisation, extemporaneous spoken word performance and performance art. He has created works for theater and dance as the primary creator and in collaboration with artists such as Jackie Apple, Linda Austin, Bob Carroll, Heidi Duckler, John Fleck, Anna Homler, Scott Kellman, Dan Kwong, Jeff McMahon, Gloria Newman, Rudy Perez and Joseph Santarromana. In 2006 he released his first film Land Ob Cotton, which may be viewed at the freewaves.org website.

His compositions are for solo instruments and small ensembles. He has been a resident artist at the Djerassi Institute in California and the Oberpfalzer Künstlerhaus in Schwandorf, Germany. He has received grants for new work in composition, performance and theater from Meet the Composer, Durfee Foundation, American Composers Forum, National Endowment for the Arts, City of Los Angeles Cultural Affairs Dept. and the California Arts Council.

He is an exhibited visual artist and has received fellowships from the Brody Arts Fund, ArtMatters, Inc. and the Organization of Independent Artists.