Love Songs & Pirate Songs: The Life & Music of Roger Bobo

Roger Bobo is one of the world’s most renowned and influential tubists and brass pedagogues of all time. He played the first tuba recital in Carnegie Hall to high critical acclaim, served as principal tubist with the Rochester Philharmonic, Concertgebouworkest, and the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and was also very active in the film studios of Hollywood, winning the prestigious “Studio Player of the Year” award in 1988. Roger was also a founding member of the Los Angeles Brass Quintet, an ensemble with whom he toured and recorded extensively. 

This authorized biography takes an up-close look at Roger’s early years growing up in California, his legendary musical career, his years teaching music at schools all over the world, his historical instrument collection, and his unique perspective on life and music. Included are a few of Roger’s own original writings as well as a couple of stories that are now being told here for the first time—deeply personal tales of tragedy and triumph—which are all part of the history of the man who has been called “the Heifetz of the tuba.”