Richard Saucedo - Composer / Conductor
Richard L. Saucedo is currently Director of Bands and Department Chairman at the William H. Duke Center for the Performing Arts at Carmel High School in Carmel, Indiana. Under his direction, Carmel bands have received numerous state and national honors in the areas of concert band, jazz band and marching band. The CHS Wind Symphony has performed at the Bands of America National Concert Band Festival three times (1992, 1999, and 2004) and was named the Indiana State Champion Concert Band in 1999. The group also performed at the Midwest Band and Orchestra Clinic in Chicago during December of 2005. The Carmel Jazz Ensemble has won numerous awards at jazz festivals in Indiana and throughout the Midwest. The Carmel Marching Greyhounds have finished in the top ten at the Bands of America Grand National Championship for the past 12 years and were named National Champions in the fall of 2005. The Marching Band has been an Indiana Class A State Champion three times in recent history. The Indiana Bandmasters Association named Mr. Saucedo Indiana's "Bandmaster of the Year" for 1998-99.
The band program at Carmel currently serves 400 instrumentalists in five concert bands, four jazz ensembles, a 200 member marching band, a 100 member pep band, a competitive winter color guard (2007 WGI Scholastic Open Class National Champions), music theory classes, and a music technology class.
Mr. Saucedo is a freelance arranger and composer, having released numerous marching band arrangements, concert band works and choral compositions. He is currently on the writing staff for the Hal Leonard Publishing Corporation. His recent grade 5 composition "Windsprints" was one of the most played new concert band works in 2005 by high school and university bands. Mr. Saucedo also composed a piece for the Mississippi Bandmasters Association honoring the work of all those who helped the state to recover from the devastation of Hurricane Katrina. The piece was premiered at the All State Band Concert in Jackson, Mississippi during March of 2006. His "Symphony #1 for Wind Orchestra" was premiered at the Midwest Band and Orchestra Convention in December of 2006. Mr. Saucedo has received commissions from all parts of the United States and he will be releasing numerous works for university, high school and middle school bands in the near future. His first DVD on the subject of rehearsing the marching band wind section (Dynamic Music) has just been published by the Hal Leonard Corporation. Mr. Saucedo is also on the staff of the newly formed company, Dynamic Marching.
Mr. Saucedo travels throughout the country as an adjudicator, clinician and guest conductor for concert band, jazz band, marching band, and orchestra. He will be a guest conductor, clinician or commission composer in over 15 different states during 2008-2009. He has been a featured clinician for the Midwest Band and Orchestra Clinic in Chicago, the Texas Music Educators Association, the Arkansas Bandmasters Association, the Colorado Music Educators Association, the California Music Educators Association and the Indiana Music Educators Association. Mr. Saucedo will be the conductor of the Arizona All-State Band and the Mississippi All-State Band in 2008. He has served as Music Caption Head for the Drum Corps Midwest Judges Guild and as a brass and music judge for Drum Corps International. Mr. Saucedo has also served as the brass composer/arranger and as a music ensemble consultant for the Cavaliers Drum and Bugle Corps in Rosemont, Illinois. The Cavaliers won the DCI World Championship five times between 2000 and 2006 using music by Mr. Saucedo.
Mr. Saucedo did his undergraduate work at Indiana University in Bloomington and finished his master's degree at Butler University in Indianapolis. He is also an aviation enthusiast and a certified private pilot. Mr. Saucedo is married to his wife Sarah and is most proud of his daughter, Carmen, who is in 12th grade and studies voice. The newest member of the Saucedo family is son Ethan David, who was born on December 8, 2006.
