It’s a long way from Minneapolis Minnesota to Rochester NY but when fate beckons, distance is not an obstacle. Roger Eckers left Minneapolis to attend the Eastman School of Music where he completed his MA in Theory and DMA in Music Education with a major in clarinet. He took a teaching position at Rush-Henrietta NY for one year and stayed for 33 years. While at Rush Henrietta he developed the Band program into one of the finest in the country. Some of the guest soloists included Clark Terry, Urbie Green, and Arnie Lawrence. In addition the theory program was widely recognized as one of the finest in the US.
Dr. Eckers has studied with some of the finest teachers in the world. They include Sigurd Rascher on saxophone, Stanley Hasty on clarinet, Joseph Mariano on flute, and Jerry Bergonzi on Jazz.
While teaching Dr. Eckers pursued his own career as a performer. He has performed with numerous jazz greats such as Urbie Green, Clark Terry, Slide Hampton, Monty Alexander, Jiggs Whigham and Junior Mance. He has played in many Broadway shows and with the Buffalo Philharmonic, NBC Ice Capades and Dianna Ross.
oger has recorded three albums and has been heard on many jingle recordings as well. The Roger Eckers Quartet and Big Band have performed in most venues in Rochester. He appears regularly in the Rochester International Jazz Festival and the St. Lucia Jazz Festival as well.
Dr. Eckers is a artist clinician for Conn-Selmer and D’Addario Reeds. He proudly plays Selmer Saxophones and endorses Jazz Select Reeds.