Richard Antoine White is an author, inspirational speaker, and professional musician. He is currently the principal tubist of the Santa Fe Symphony and is in his 10th season as principal tubist of the New Mexico Philharmonic. He's also the first African American musician in the United States to earn a doctorate in tuba performance and is now a professor of tuba at the University of New Mexico. With over two decades of performing on the world’s classical music stages, tubist Richard White has matured into a musician known f...
Richard Antoine White is an author, inspirational speaker, and professional musician. He is currently the principal tubist of the Santa Fe Symphony and is in his 10th season as principal tubist of the New Mexico Philharmonic. He's also the first African American musician in the United States to earn a doctorate in tuba performance and is now a professor of tuba at the University of New Mexico. With over two decades of performing on the world’s classical music stages, tubist Richard White has matured into a musician known for his clear sound and stylistic flexibility. He began his tuba studies with Ed. Goldstein at age twelve at The Baltimore School for the Performing Arts, where he graduated with honors. He then went to the Peabody Conservatory of Music to study with David Fedderly (Principal Tubist, Baltimore Symphony) where he received his Bachelor’s degree. On the advice of Mr. Fedderly, Richard traveled to Indiana University to study with the legendary Professor Daniel Perantoni. He continued his studies there receiving both his Master’s and Doctoral degrees.
IN THIS EPISODE…Dr. White shares his incredible life journey from being homeless with his mother on the streets of Baltimore to being the principal tubist of the Santa Fe Symphony and principal tubist of the New Mexico Philharmonic. As you can imagine there is a remarkable amount of life experience and lessons learned, and community found from his beginning to where he is now, and that journey is what RAW Tuba shares today. He isn’t done with his goals yet, he also shares a big new way to give back through the RAW Tuba Ranch.
🔍 Breakdown with Dr. Richard Antione White:
Chapter 1 (0:00): Introduction
Joe introduces Richard and sets up the episode.
Chapter 2 (2:00) Richard’s beginning
Richard and his mother were homeless on the streets of Baltimore. He had a rough start in life and was a small child primarily on his own.
Chapter 3 (7:05) Being taken away
During the blizzard of 1978 Richard couldn’t find his mother, so he curled up in a building vestibule. He was found and it was decided that his mother was unfit for his care.
Chapter 4 (12:51) Starting school
After being taken in by his grandparents, they quickly realized he had not had any schooling. They got him enrolled and it was a major adjustment.
Chapter 5 (16:02) Finding music
With his stature, Richard tried to go out for sports but quickly realized music is what fueled him the most.
Chapter 6 (21:22) Auditioning for new school
Quickly Richard and his parents could see he was outgrowing the public school he was at, so they arranged for him to audition for the Baltimore School of the Arts.
Chapter 7 (29:38) work ethic and practice
There is no cheating hard work and practice. Richard makes sure to prioritize practicing and scheduling workouts to keep up his abilities.
Chapter 8 (34:24) Connecting with his brother
His mom had one more son, and although they were estranged for the first decade of their lives, they found each other and bonded over their shared love of music.
Chapter 9 (38:38) Finding his father
Richard’s dad was in jail from the moment he was born. One day at one of Richard’s performances a man in the audience stood up and introduced himself.
Chapter 10 (44:33) Doctorate
He almost wasn’t able to get his doctorate with all the time in between professional musician jobs.
Chapter 11 (48:02) Writing I’m Possible
After watching the documentary that was created Richard knew he had to write his story and get it on paper.
Chapter 12 (55:06) Closing Remarks
Joe wraps up the episode and shares his final thoughts
Material Referenced in this interview:
→I’m Possible by Richard Antione White
→The Wire - HBO TV
→Whiplash - Movie
📞 Connect with Richard Antione White
→https://www.instagram.com/raw_tuba
→https://www.facebook.com/RAWTUBA
→https://www.linkedin.com/in/richard-white-15a054214
→https://rawtuba.com
👊 To learn more about Not Almost There by visiting this link
→ Not Almost There http://notalmostthere.com
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→https://www.instagram.com/notalmostthere
→Facebook https://www.facebook.com/notalmostthere
→Twitter http://twitter.com/joechura
