Anthony Rivera
Anthony Rivera is the conductor and music director of the Santa Clara University Orchestra and Wind Ensemble. Prior to joining the faculty at SCU, Rivera completed graduate studies at the University of Maryland. At UMD he served as Assistant Conductor of the Wind Orchestra and Wind Ensemble, Director of the Repertoire Orchestra, and a guest conductor of the new music ensemble, TEMPO. In addition to conducting, he was instructor of Woodwind Techniques and Pedagogy for music education majors.
An active guest conductor and clinician, Rivera was a guest conductor of the Providence College Honor Band, guest lecturer for the Maryland Music Educators Association, and was selected as a chamber music conductor for the Temple University Conductors Symposium. For ten years, he performed with the Handel Choir of Baltimore and served on the artistic committee and as conducting fellow. Rivera has guest conducted The United States Coast Guard Band, presenting Armand Russell’s Theme and Fantasia at the Eastern Division College Band Directors National Association Conference. He conducted a semi-staged production of his arrangement of Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte for wind instruments and vocal soloists with the UMD Wind Orchestra and Opera Studio. In 2018, Rivera will present at the College Band Directors National Association Western/Northwestern Division Conference.
Rivera taught instrumental music for the Baltimore County Public Schools and currently teaches part time at San Jose High School. In an effort to promote new music and repertoire for young bands, he commissioned two pieces from composer David Faleris. “Of Chivalry and Valor,” recently won the 2014 National Band Association Merrill Jones Composition Contest. In 2012, Rivera was awarded Teacher of the Year from the Essex Chamber of Commerce and received citations for teaching excellence from the Maryland Senate and House of Representatives for creating a vibrant music program at Eastern Technical High School.
Rivera holds a Doctor of Musical Arts in wind conducting from the University of Maryland, a Master of Music in wind conducting from the Peabody Conservatory of The Johns Hopkins University, and a Bachelor of Music Education from the University of Central Florida. His teachers and mentors are Michael Votta, Jr., James Ross, and Harlan Parker.