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Roger Briggs, an internationally recognized composer and conductor, is Professor Emeritus of Composition at Western Washington University. Born in Florence, Alabama, in 1952, he was educated at the University of Memphis and the Eastman School of Music. He studied with many noted musicians, including Gustav Meier, Samuel Adler, Sir Peter Maxwell Davies, and Pulitzer Prize-winning composers Joseph Schwanter and Ned Rorem. In 1978, he was appointed Professor of Composition and Conducting at Saint Mary's College in Notre Dame, Indiana. This was followed by post-doctoral work at the Dartington Institute in Totnes, England. He joined the faculty of WWU in 1989. During his career, Briggs received many awards, including Washington State Composer of the Year, two Washington State Arts Commission awards, and the prestigious Lieberson Award of the American Academy of Arts and Letters. In 1996, Briggs became Artistic Director of the Whatcom Symphony Orchestra in Bellingham. He has also conducted and recorded with the London Symphony Orchestra, the Prague Symphony Orchestra, and the Czech Radio Orchestra, among others.