Jim Riggs
Encyclopedia
James Garland Riggs, University of North Texas Emeritus Regents Professor (b. July 1941) is an American
saxophonist
in both the classical and jazz idioms, big band
director, collegiate music educator, and international music clinician.
. Riggs performs regularly with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra and the Ft. Worth Symphony Orchestra. Riggs performed with the Dallas Symphony on the European tour of Holland, Belgium
, Switzerland
, Germany
, England
, and Ireland
. He recorded Prokoviev's Lieutenant Kijé
, Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue
, Porgy and Bess
, and An American In Paris
with the Dallas Symphony. Riggs also appeared as a jazz soloist with the United States Navy Commodores in Washington, D.C.
Riggs is the leader and founder of The Official Texas Jazz Orchestra, a Dallas based ensemble dedicated to performing state of the art large jazz ensemble music. Riggs has conducted All-State Jazz Bands in Michigan, Ohio, Oklahoma, Kentucky, Tennessee. Riggs has appeared as a featured performer and clinician at Jazz Festivals throughout the USA and Sweden. As a freelance artist he has performed with Frank Sinatra
, Ella Fitzgerald
, Tony Bennett
, Nancy Wilson, Henry Mancini
and Nelson Riddle
. He also is a prolific studio recording artist.
where he had taught applied saxophone, directed the Two O'Clock Lab Band
, and taught Jazz Style and Analysis. Riggs joined the North Texas faculty in the fall of 1973. Riggs has instructed many prominent alumni of the Jazz Studies program at North Texas.
Riggs directed the Two O'Clock Lab Band
while coordinating the world's largest enrollment of saxophone students. The Two O'Clock Lab Band was named "winner" in Downbeat Magazine's "Annual Student Music Awards" in 1994, 1997, 2001, 2006 and 2008. He has produced many national and international award-winning saxophonists, including first place winners and finalists in the North American Saxophone Alliance
Young Artist Competition, semifinalists in the Thelonious Monk International Jazz Saxophone Competition (Luis Hernandez 2002; Dave Pietro
1991 & 1996), and winners in Down Beat Magazine Student Music Solo Awards.
Riggs former students hold teaching and performing positions in numerous colleges and universities throughout the United States and in elite military bands in Washington, D.C.
His students hold first call professional playing positions across the globe including Hamburg, New York City and Los Angeles.
, University of North Texas College of Music
Other recordings
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
saxophonist
Saxophone
The saxophone is a conical-bore transposing musical instrument that is a member of the woodwind family. Saxophones are usually made of brass and played with a single-reed mouthpiece similar to that of the clarinet. The saxophone was invented by the Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax in 1846...
in both the classical and jazz idioms, big band
Big band
A big band is a type of musical ensemble associated with jazz and the Swing Era typically consisting of rhythm, brass, and woodwind instruments totaling approximately twelve to twenty-five musicians...
director, collegiate music educator, and international music clinician.
As performer
As a University of North Texas student (1969–72) Riggs performed with the University of North Texas One O'Clock Lab BandOne O'Clock Lab Band
The One O’Clock Lab Band for years has been the premier ensemble of the Jazz Studies Division at the University of North Texas College of Music in Denton. The band has performed and toured abroad in Australia, Canada, England, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Norway,...
. Riggs performs regularly with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra and the Ft. Worth Symphony Orchestra. Riggs performed with the Dallas Symphony on the European tour of Holland, Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
, Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, and Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
. He recorded Prokoviev's Lieutenant Kijé
Lieutenant Kijé (Prokofiev)
Lieutenant Kijé is the score composed by Sergei Prokofiev for the 1934 Soviet film Lieutenant Kijé directed by Aleksandr Faintsimmer based on the novel of the same title by Yury Tynyanov.-Suite from Lieutenant Kijé:...
, Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue
Rhapsody in Blue
Rhapsody in Blue is a musical composition by George Gershwin for solo piano and jazz band written in 1924, which combines elements of classical music with jazz-influenced effects....
, Porgy and Bess
Porgy and Bess
Porgy and Bess is an opera, first performed in 1935, with music by George Gershwin, libretto by DuBose Heyward, and lyrics by Ira Gershwin and DuBose Heyward. It was based on DuBose Heyward's novel Porgy and subsequent play of the same title, which he co-wrote with his wife Dorothy Heyward...
, and An American In Paris
An American in Paris
An American in Paris is a symphonic tone poem by the American composer George Gershwin, written in 1928. Inspired by the time Gershwin had spent in Paris, it evokes the sights and energy of the French capital in the 1920s. It is one of Gershwin's best-known compositions.Gershwin composed the piece...
with the Dallas Symphony. Riggs also appeared as a jazz soloist with the United States Navy Commodores in Washington, D.C.
Riggs is the leader and founder of The Official Texas Jazz Orchestra, a Dallas based ensemble dedicated to performing state of the art large jazz ensemble music. Riggs has conducted All-State Jazz Bands in Michigan, Ohio, Oklahoma, Kentucky, Tennessee. Riggs has appeared as a featured performer and clinician at Jazz Festivals throughout the USA and Sweden. As a freelance artist he has performed with Frank Sinatra
Frank Sinatra
Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...
, Ella Fitzgerald
Ella Fitzgerald
Ella Jane Fitzgerald , also known as the "First Lady of Song" and "Lady Ella," was an American jazz and song vocalist...
, Tony Bennett
Tony Bennett
Tony Bennett is an American singer of popular music, standards, show tunes, and jazz....
, Nancy Wilson, Henry Mancini
Henry Mancini
Henry Mancini was an American composer, conductor and arranger, best remembered for his film and television scores. He won a record number of Grammy Awards , plus a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award posthumously in 1995...
and Nelson Riddle
Nelson Riddle
Nelson Smock Riddle, Jr. was an American arranger, composer, bandleader and orchestrator whose career stretched from the late 1940s to the mid 1980s...
. He also is a prolific studio recording artist.
As educator
Until his retirement in August 2008, Riggs had been professor in the Jazz Studies and Performance Divisions of University of North Texas College of MusicUniversity of North Texas College of Music
The University of North Texas College of Music, based in Denton, is a comprehensive music school with the largest enrollment of any music institution accredited by the National Association of Schools of Music, and the oldest in the world offering a degree in jazz studies...
where he had taught applied saxophone, directed the Two O'Clock Lab Band
Two O'Clock Lab Band
The Two O'Clock Lab Band is the second highest level of nine big bands of the Jazz Studies Division at the University of North Texas College of Music, a comprehensive music school with the largest enrollment of any music institution accredited by the National Association of Schools of Music, and...
, and taught Jazz Style and Analysis. Riggs joined the North Texas faculty in the fall of 1973. Riggs has instructed many prominent alumni of the Jazz Studies program at North Texas.
Riggs directed the Two O'Clock Lab Band
Two O'Clock Lab Band
The Two O'Clock Lab Band is the second highest level of nine big bands of the Jazz Studies Division at the University of North Texas College of Music, a comprehensive music school with the largest enrollment of any music institution accredited by the National Association of Schools of Music, and...
while coordinating the world's largest enrollment of saxophone students. The Two O'Clock Lab Band was named "winner" in Downbeat Magazine's "Annual Student Music Awards" in 1994, 1997, 2001, 2006 and 2008. He has produced many national and international award-winning saxophonists, including first place winners and finalists in the North American Saxophone Alliance
North American Saxophone Alliance
The North American Saxophone Alliance is an organization for saxophone players from around North America. Members are required to pay dues, which vary depending on age. NASA hosts regional conferences for each of its 10 regions. It also hosts a biennial international conference...
Young Artist Competition, semifinalists in the Thelonious Monk International Jazz Saxophone Competition (Luis Hernandez 2002; Dave Pietro
Dave Pietro
Dave Pietro is a jazz saxophonist who plays alto saxophone. He started playing at age 11 and was first recorded with his school's band by Clark Terry. He received his bachelor's in music from the University of North Texas where he was a member of the world renowned One O'Clock Lab Band...
1991 & 1996), and winners in Down Beat Magazine Student Music Solo Awards.
Riggs former students hold teaching and performing positions in numerous colleges and universities throughout the United States and in elite military bands in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
His students hold first call professional playing positions across the globe including Hamburg, New York City and Los Angeles.
Education
- 1966 – Bachelor of Education in Secondary Education: Music-Instrumental and Vocal, University of ToledoUniversity of ToledoThe University of Toledo is a public university in Toledo, Ohio, United States. The Carnegie Foundation classified the university as "Doctoral/Research Extensive."-National recognition:...
- 1972 – Master of Music, University of North Texas College of MusicUniversity of North Texas College of MusicThe University of North Texas College of Music, based in Denton, is a comprehensive music school with the largest enrollment of any music institution accredited by the National Association of Schools of Music, and the oldest in the world offering a degree in jazz studies...
Jim Riggs Humor
- John Murphy, What Makes Jim Riggs Such a Great Musician and Teacher?
- Art Hays (student) impersonating Jim Riggs
Family
Jim Riggs is married to Joanna Leslie Riggs (née Conaway). She retired in 2006 as a library supervisor at the University of North Texas. They have one daughter, Lindsay Countryman, and twin grandchildren Carson and Claire.Publications
- James Garland Riggs, An analysis of Jacques Ibert'sJacques IbertJacques François Antoine Ibert was a French composer. Having studied music from an early age, he studied at the Paris Conservatoire and won its top prize, the Prix de Rome at his first attempt, despite studies interrupted by his service in World War I.Ibert pursued a successful composing career,...
Concertino da Camera for alto saxophone and eleven instruments (1972)
Selected discography
As Director of the Two O'Clock Lab BandTwo O'Clock Lab Band
The Two O'Clock Lab Band is the second highest level of nine big bands of the Jazz Studies Division at the University of North Texas College of Music, a comprehensive music school with the largest enrollment of any music institution accredited by the National Association of Schools of Music, and...
, University of North Texas College of Music
University of North Texas College of Music
The University of North Texas College of Music, based in Denton, is a comprehensive music school with the largest enrollment of any music institution accredited by the National Association of Schools of Music, and the oldest in the world offering a degree in jazz studies...
Other recordings
Other saxophone faculty at North Texas during Riggs' era
- John GiordanoJohn GiordanoJohn Read Giordano is an American orchestra conductor, professor of music, composer, and former concert saxophonist. He is Associate Professor of Music at Texas Christian University...
, Artist in Residence, Saxophone, 1966–1973 - Elie ApperElie ApperAlie Apper is a Belgian classical saxophonist who is well-known as a former member of the Saxophone Quartet of Belgium . The quartet made its American debut December 9, 1970, in Fort Worth with the Youth Orchestra of Greater Fort Worth...
, visiting lecturer from Belgium, Sept 1972–1974 (Belgium Saxophone Quartet) - Norbert H. J. NozyNorbert H. J. NozyNorbert H. J. Nozy is a contemporary Belgian conductor, music educator, and classical saxophonist.- Education :...
, visiting lecturer from Belgium, 1973–1974 (Belgium Saxophone Quartet) - Reginald Jackson, grad student, 1972–1975
- Dennis F. Diemond, saxophone faculty, Sept 1977–
- Debra A. Richtmeyer, saxophone faculty, 1981–1991
- Michael Redford, grad student
- Eric M. Nestler, DMA, Professor of Music, saxophone, 1992–present
- Brad C. Leali, August 2008–present
- James F. Ogilvy, grad student