His career as a concert artist, recording artist, orchestral artist, chamber music artist, jazz musician, studio artist, composer, arranger, master teacher, published author – Professor Richard Todd is unmatched. He was a soloist at Carnegie Hall and the Hollywood Bowl, as well as the Sydney Opera House and Walt Disney Concert Hall. A USC graduate, he was a student of Waldemar and Vincent DeRosa. He was also a student of Tanglewood and the Music Academy of The West, where he met Gunther Schuller. This was to be his mentor and record producer. Todd began his professional career at 21 years old as a member the Utah Symphony. He was 22 when he became the principal horn of New Orleans Symphony. At 24 he won Medaille d’Or at the Toulon Internaional Competition. Todd returned to Los Angeles, where he began his career in the famed LA film studios. Richard Todd has excelled in every type of music he has tried. For 35 years, he was Principal Horn at the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra. He has also performed in numerous of the most prestigious chamber music festivals around the world. Todd has made dozens of solo performances with orchestras in the United States, including the world premieres of Kenneth Fuchs’ Canticle To The Sun, and Craig Russell’s Rhapsody For Horn And Orchestra. Gunther Schuller also selected him to record the Horn Concerto No. Gunther Schuller also hand-picked him to record his Horn Concerto No. 1 in 1992. The Brahms Horn Trio was Schuller’s last recording before his death, in 2015. Todd learned jazz from Ellis Marsalis, and listened to all the great artists. Clark Terry, Terrence Blanchard and Terrence Previn were among his many performances. Todd’s studio career spans over 35 years, and includes more than 2,000 television and film scores. His screen credits include blockbuster films like Star Trek Into Darkness or Tomorrowland. The LA Chamber Orchestra twice asked him to write works for them. He became the first member of the orchestra’s sitting audience to hear a composition. The orchestra’s 40th anniversary season opened with the premiere of “ceLebrACiOn”, the work. Todd has been a member of faculties such as Cal Arts, UCLA and USC as well as the University of Indiana Jacobs School of Music. In 2009, Professor Todd joined Frost School and has seen his studio grow steadily since then. Many of his former students have gone on to become orchestra musicians, free-lance artists, studio musicians and artistic administrators. He also taught at top universities such as UCLA and USC. Professor Todd is a Hans Hoyer Horns Buffet Artist and is currently developing his own line with Osmun Music. from www.richardtoddmusic.com
