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Ricardo Espinosa served as Director of Bands at Missouri Southern State University. He was the principal conductor of the Wind Ensemble and Concert Band and directed the Lion Pride Marching Band and Lion Pride Pep Band. Additionally, he instructed both beginning conducting and advanced instrumental conducting courses, composition, music technology, and marching band techniques/methods courses. He also served as a composer and arranger for various ensembles.
Dr. Espinosa has also served as a Trumpet/Brass instructor for the Phantom Regiment Drum and Bugle Corps, a member of Drum Corps International. Most recently he conducted the SWMMEA District Honor Band, the SEKMEA District Honor Band, and the Texas UIL Region 14 top band – The Honor Winds.
Prior to his appointment at MSSU, Dr. Espinosa served as the Assistant Director of Bands at Baylor University in Waco, Texas. For six years he was an essential part of this prominent band program, leading their Courtside Players pep band to venues across the nation, serving as Associate Director of the Baylor Golden Wave Marching Band, and teaching conducting courses to hundreds of students. He also served as faculty sponsor for Kappa Kappa Psi and Tau Beta Sigma, the national honorary band fraternity and sorority.
A native of Los Angeles, Dr. Espinosa holds the Doctor of Musical Arts degree and Master of Music degree, both in wind conducting, from the University of California, Los Angeles, studying with Dr. Thomas Lee. Additionally, Dr. Espinosa holds a Bachelor of Music degree in Composition from the California State University, Los Angeles, where he also studied wind conducting with Dr. Abel Saldivar Ramirez and composition with Dr. John Kennedy and Dr. Sara Graef. He has served in trumpet instruction and band leadership roles for the UCLA Marching Band, the Pasadena City College Lancer Marching Band, the Tournament of Roses Band and Herald Trumpets, and the Santa Clara Vanguard Drum and Bugle Corps as well as marching instructor for various California high school bands.
Riccardo Espinosa has held affiliations with the Missouri Music Educators Association (MMEA), the National Association for Music Education (NAfME), the College Band Directors National Association (CBDNA), and is an honorary member of Kappa Kappa Psi and Tau Beta Sigma. He, his wife Michelle, and sons Ethan & Lucas, recently moved back to the Los Angeles area to enjoy close proximity to family and friends in the land they call “home”.
