Faculty Bio: Richard Schaffer

Richard Schaffer, trumpet, graduated from the Eastman School of Music with a bachelor of Music/Music Education Degree and Performer’s Certificate in 1963.  After graduation he enlisted in the United States Marine Corps and was assigned to the United States Marine Band (“The President’s Own”) based at Marine Barracks, 8^th and I Street in Washington, D.C.  His duties included performing in the concert band and with the Marine Band White House Orchestra for Presidents Kennedy and Johnson, providing orchestral, Broadway show music, and dance music for evening events.  One of his most difficult assignments was playing in the funeral procession and at the gravesite for President Kennedy’s funeral. While stationed in Washington he obtained a Master of Music Degree from the Catholic University of America.

Upon leaving the Marine Corps in 1967 he was accepted as the Third and Assistant First Trumpet in the Houston Symphony, a position he held until 1986 when he moved to the Second Trumpet position.  During his tenure he participated in multiple United States, European and Far Eastern concert tours, and numerous recordings and television appearances.  He retired in 2001 after 34 years’ service and moved to the Syracuse area where he teaches at Onondaga Community College and has performed as extra trumpet with the Syracuse and Bangor, Maine symphony orchestras.