BRAD DEROCHE
As a guitarist, Brad DeRoche has explored a wide variety of musical styles ranging from classical masterpieces to modern works by living composers. He is an active concert artist, appearing as a soloist, chamber musician, and orchestral soloist in North and South America, and has also appeared on public radio and television programs.
Several composers have written works for him including a solo composition by Prix de Rome prizewinner Vincent Frohne. Dr. DeRoche has also published articles in the scholarly journal Soundboard; written program notes for guitarists Manuel Barrueco, Lorenzo Micheli, Xuefei Yang, Ricardo Gallen and others; and has performed, taught or presented seminars at the Eastman Guitar Festival, the Interlochen Guitar Festival, the Las Vegas Guitar Festival, the Alexandria Guitar Festival, the Cleveland International Guitar Festival, and others. He has recorded works by the Spanish composers Falla, Arcas, Albeniz, Tarrega, and Asencio, and others.
He holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Classical Guitar Performance from the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, NY, where his principal instructor was Nicholas Goluses. In addition, he earned degrees from Central Michigan University and Eastern Michigan University. He has participated in many masterclasses with prominent concert guitarists including David Russell, Raphaëlla Smits, Paul Galbraith, Fabio Zanon, Denis Azabagic, and many others.
As an educator, Dr. DeRoche teaches guitar, guitar ensemble, music history, and music theory courses. He is chair of the music department at Delta College and also directs the guitar programs at Central Michigan University and Saginaw Valley State University. He is also the director of the Interlochen Classical Guitar Workshop. In 2017 Dr. DeRoche won the Bergstein Award for Teaching Excellence, the highest award given to a faculty member at Delta College.
Dr. DeRoche has enjoyed a wide variety of activities in his professional life. In addition to being a performer and educator, he and his brother owned and operated the successful online retail business “Strings By Mail.” In 2015 he wrote a music appreciation textbook titled “An Introduction to Art Music” published by Kendall-Hunt. He currently directs a concert series at Delta College called the “Allegro Series” which has presented some of the worlds finest musicians in it’s 20 year history, and serves as artistic director of the Michigan Classical Guitar Festival.
