Richard L. Saucedo composer / arranger

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. He will be retiring at the end of the 2012-13 school year after teaching for 31 years. 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 Ensembles have 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 15 years and were named BOA National Champions in the fall of 2005 and again in 2012. The Marching Band has been an Indiana Class A State Champion four times in recent history. The Indiana Bandmasters Association named Mr. Saucedo Indiana’s “Bandmaster of the Year” for 1998-99. Mr. Saucedo was recently named the “Outstanding Music Educator” in the state of Indiana for 2010 by the Indiana Music Educators Association. Mr. Saucedo’s accomplishments have been recently highlighted in articles by HALFTIME and SCHOOL BAND AND ORCHESTRA Magazines

The band program at Carmel currently serves 450 instrumentalists and 60 color guard members in six concert bands, four jazz ensembles, a 200+ member marching band, a 100 member pep band, three competitive winter color guards (2011 WGI Scholastic World Class National Champions), music theory classes, a music technology class and a jazz improvisation 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 concert band works have been performed all over the world by middle school and high school bands as well as by college and university groups. Mr. Saucedo’s first orchestral piece, “Nocturne for Orchestra” was named most outstanding new original composition at the National Orchestra Cup Festival held at Lincoln Center in NY during April of 2009. His second orchestral work “Nibiru” was premiered in December of 2009 at the Midwest Band and Orchestra Convention. Mr. Saucedo has received commissions from all parts of the United States and Japan and he will be releasing numerous works for university, high school middle school bands and orchestras in the near future. He is the author of two DVD’s on the subject of rehearsing the marching band wind section “Dynamic Music”. He is also featured in a concert band rehearsal techniques DVD “The First 20 Minutes of Rehearsal”, now available from Dynamic Music/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 the 2012-13 school year. 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, the North Dakota Music Educators Association, The Virginia Music Educators Association and the Indiana Music Educators Association. He has served as Music Caption Head for the Drum Corps Midwest Judges Guild and has served as a music judge for Drum Corps International for many years. Mr. Saucedo also served as the brass composer/arranger for the Cavaliers Drum and Bugle Corps in Rosemont, Illinois from 2000 through 2008. The Cavaliers won the DCI World Championship five times during Mr. Saucedo’s tenure. He will be the brass composer/arranger for the Blue Stars Drum and Bugle Corps in 2013. Mr. Saucedo is also an Educational Consultant for “Music for All” and “Bands of America”.

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 studying elementary education at Ball State University. The newest member of the Saucedo family is son Ethan David, who was born on December 8, 2006.