Richard C. Frazier’s musical involvement spans a lifetime: He remembers listening to music on a homemade radio as a three-year-old! With a bachelor’s degree in applied music and a master’s degree in music education from Texas Tech University, Mr. Frazier has served as a conductor and performed as an instrumentalist and vocalist for over 40 years.
Mr. Frazier began his musical career as a trombonist. He holds a bachelor’s
degree in Trombone Performance, playing with university jazz bands, professional jazz bands, as well as professional touring bands and combos. Primarily a jazz soloist, he was honored to perform with Louis Bellson, Rich Matteson, Phil Wilson, Bob Hope, and many others. He studied jazz improvisation with Bill Snodgrass at South Plains College in Levelland, Texas. He further pursued his love of jazz music in clinics and camps with David Baker, Jamey Aebersold, David Liebman, and numerous others. While working on his master’s degree, he spent countless hours in private lessons studying string, brass, woodwinds, and percussion instruments to better prepare for his teaching career. His focus also included conducting, composition, and arranging. Although a loyal Red Raider, Frazier participated in conducting workshops at the University of Texas with Jerry
Junkin, Bob Renolds, Dick Floyd, Tom Lee, and Texas Tech with Gary Lewis.
Additionally, he studied string pedagogy intensively with the best educators in America at the National String Teachers summer workshop in Michigan.
He currently performs primarily as a vocalist and clinics bands and orchestras. He enjoys composing and arranging and has written numerous arrangements for orchestra, marching band, voice and orchestra, choir, jazz band, and chamber groups. He was a marching band drill designer for many years, writing drills for bands across the United States. Additionally, Mr. Frazier composed the full orchestra sight reading music for UIL competition in Texas for several years.
Mr. Frazier began teaching after spending his twenties in the retail music
business. He fell in love with strings and orchestras the first time he heard a live concert. After completing his master’s degree, he taught orchestra and band in Amarillo ISD, then band in Salado ISD. He moved to Austin to work at Westwood High School and Grisham Middle School teaching band and assisting with the orchestras. During his time assisting at Westwood, the orchestra received its first TMEA Honor Orchestra Award and Mr. Frazier was honored to conduct the Westwood orchestra on a European tour of Germany and Austria. Near the end of his time at Westwood, Mr. Frazier became an adjunct professor of strings at Texas Lutheran University. While at TLU he taught string pedagogy and conducted their orchestra.
In 2001 he moved to Anderson High School in Austin and was there for twenty years as the orchestra director and Fine Arts Department Chair. While at Anderson, the orchestra grew and became a consistent UIL Sweepstakes award winner. During his tenure, many of his students won individual awards and followed up with careers in music and/or continue to perform in local ensembles as adults. As department chair, Mr. Frazier spent countless hours securing funding and supporting all the arts programs. In addition to Fine Arts, he coordinated school-wide renovations of the theater and dance gym; the creation of a host of new classrooms; the construction of the technology/engineering building; and other improvement projects. He is very proud not only of the Anderson Fine Arts department’s outstanding record of success but also of the accomplishments of the entire school community. Mr. Frazier brought his leadership skills to the district level by leading the first Facility Master Task Force for AISD and an additional committee. That work led to the first district blueprint for facility management.
While at Anderson Mr. Frazier became a National Board-Certified Teacher,
earned a principal’s certificate, and was recognized for his teaching with an HEB award for excellence. Additionally, he mentored young teachers for several years as part of the AISD TIP program.
Mr. Frazier was elected TMEA (Texas Music Educators Association) Region Orchestra Chair serving three terms in that position, as well as two terms as TMEA Region Vice-President over all divisions. He twice acted as organizer for TMEA All State Orchestras and organized and chaired numerous auditions. In addition, he has conducted TMEA Region Orchestras and led numerous sectionals. During this same period Mr. Frazier hosted numerous UIL orchestra competitions at Anderson and at numerous school PAC’s around Austin.
He continues to serve as a clinician, adjudicator, presenter at educator
conventions, and substitute conductor for numerous groups and organizations in Texas, including the Austin Civic Orchestra. He works as an advisor and conductor for Classical Music for The World, and currently serves as Music Director at Covenant United Methodist Church in Austin. At present, he is joyfully preparing for a debut vocal recital. Richard has been married to Ellen Frazier for 38 years, and they have two wonderful children, both of whom are married to equally wonderful spouses. The Fraziers have one anxious dog, Izzy, and three granddogs: Triton, Adele, and Ritz.
Mr. Frazier is greatly honored to be planning and conducting this concert.
“ACO and its membership directly reflect my belief in the lifelong pursuit of
excellence in music. Musical collaboration is in itself a great joy, and it is with that joy that this American Composers Concert was selected.”