Rich Raaen

Dressed in black, Rich plays trombone into the microphone. Rich soloed on "Georgia on My Mind" at the 2001 Roosevelt Middle School Jazz Festival.
Rich played trombone with the band at the June 6, 2000, concert in Central Park. Rich poses with his trombone, wearing a Roseville Big Band summer shirt.
Rich solos into the microphone with his eyes closed. Rich soloed on "You're the Boss" at the 2002 Roosevelt Middle School Jazz Festival.

Rich played in the trombone section and soloed on "All of Me" and "Route 66" as part of the Roseville Big Band's concert in the Central Park band shell, June 6, 2000.

He also took a solo chorus with the Roseville Big Band at the Oak View Middle School Jazz Festival in Andover, March 10, 2000.

At the Roosevelt Middle School Jazz Festival, March 23, 2001, Rich played the instrumental solo on "Georgia on My Mind" with the Roseville Big Band, and at the next year's jazz festival, March 22, 2002, he improvised a trombone solo on "You're the Boss".

Rich organized all of the jazz festivals, served as host, and led his own middle school band in addition to soloing with the Roseville Big Band.

Rich has taught public school at all levels and is currently a band director at Blaine High School, after teaching at Oak View Middle School and Roosevelt Middle School in the Anoka-Hennepin school district. He performs regularly as a freelance trombonist and pianist in the Twin Cities area. He played in the Lake Wobegon Brass Band for ten years and leads his own 12-piece big band with vocalist, Generation II, and a seven-piece combo, the Falbo Coalition (flute, trumpet, trombone, guitar, bass, Hammond B-3 organ, and drums). He also directed the Calhoun-Isles Community Band, beginning in 2003.

In 1984, Rich graduated from the University of North Texas with a degree in Music Education and Music Performance. His undergraduate education also included two years at Concordia College in Moorehead, Minnesota. He is currently finishing his Master's Degree in Instrumental Music at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul.

This page was last updated
Friday, February 07, 2020.


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