Dr. Richard Birkemeier is a Professor of Music with teaching duties that include courses in music history with a specialization in the history of the Wind Band and brass chamber music. He is also a professional freelance trumpeter and conductor in Southern California. Before coming to CSULB in 1985, Richard held faculty positions at Ohio Wesleyan University and Lakeland College in the Mid-West.

In addition to his teaching responsibilities, Richard serves as vice-chair of the Music Department and as the director of the California Institute for the Preservation of Jazz. Off campus, he is the musical director of the Americus Brass Band, Southern California’s most active, professional brass ensemble.

Dr. Birkemeier has performed trumpet with, among others, the Columbus Symphony, the Memphis Symphony, and the Pacific Symphony Orchestras, and Baroque trumpet with the Los Angeles Baroque Orchestra, Musica Angelica, and the San Luis Obispo Mozart Festival. His work with The Americus Brass Band has included several national concert tours, three critically acclaimed CDs, a concert at the Hollywood Bowl, and over a dozen TV and movie appearances including major motion pictures Glory, Gettysburg, Geronimo: An American Legend, and Hidalgo.