Richard Meyer has taught string students at the elementary, middle school, and high school levels in the public schools for over 35 years. For 22 years, he directed the orchestras at Oak Avenue Intermediate School in Temple City, California, growing the program from 29 string students to 200 and was in charge of the city’s elementary string program. In 2009, he implemented the “Giving Bach” program at his school which has garnered national attention for its innovative ways of using interactive concerts to bring music into the lives of special needs and inner-city school students throughout Southern California. He was the music director of the Pasadena Youth Symphony Orchestra for 16 years, conducting them in performances in New York, Washington D.C., Vienna, Australia, and Canada. He is a much sought-after clinician throughout the United States, and has been a featured clinician at the A.S.T.A. National Conference, Texas Orchestra Directors’ Association Conference and String Teachers’ Workshops at Ohio State University and Birch Bay, Washington. He has also guest-conducted All-State and Honor Orchestras in several states. In addition to his teaching and conducting assignments, Mr. Meyer is a nationally-recognized, best-selling composer with over 170 compositions and arrangements in print, and for 16 years served as string editor for Alfred Publishing Company. He is the co-author of several string method books, including the popular “String Explorer” Series and “Sight-read It for Strings”. He and his wife, Rose, live in Sierra Madre, California and have three daughters.