Biography
John Roscigno is the Chair of the Department of Music at California State University, Northridge where he has been Professor of music and Director of Orchestral Studies for eighteen years. He holds additional posts as Music Director of the CSUN Youth Orchestra program and Music Director of the Thousand Oaks Philharmonic. In the summer of 2019, he was the Keynote Speaker for the Music Teacher’s of California State Convention. His versatility as a conductor and performer has led to many unique opportunities throughout the world. Prior to his years in Northridge, he was a member of the music faculties of the University of Arizona, University of Central Arkansas and Auburn University. He holds degrees in orchestra conducting, piano performance and percussion performance with a minor in art history. Additional studies include work at the Aspen Music Festival, Cincinnati Conservatory Conducting Symposium and the University of Miami. His principal conducting teachers have been Akira Endo, Paul Vermel and Leonard Pearlman. He studied percussion with Tom Siwe and Gary Cook and piano with Nicholas Zumbro, Ozan Marsh and William Landolfi.
Some of Dr. Roscigno’s career highlights include conducting the west coast premieres of Philip Glass’s Symphony No. 2 and Symphony No. 7, hosting a one week residency for composer George Crumb in Arkansas, and accompanying world reknowned percussionist Evelyn Glennie at the Percussive Arts Society International Convention. He has performed professionally as a pianist and percussionist with the Arkansas Symphony, Tucson Symphony, Sinfonia da Camara and Summit Brass and has guest conducted all-state orchestras and festival orchestras throughout the United States. He is a strong advocate of the performance of new music having conducting and performed numerous premiers over the years. He has also composed a number of works including four song cycles for soprano and chamber ensemble. In addition, he has taken on the recent project of cataloguing the music housed in the home of Australian composer Percy Grainger in White Plains, New York.
Dr. Roscigno continues to conduct and teach conducting, and performs from time to time but recently has moved some of his creative energy into the world of abstract painting. His art works can be seen at www.jroscignoart.com. He is also an avid cyclist and sports enthusiast. He has two children, Andrew and Isabella, and he is a native of the Bronx, New York.