A true jack of all trades, Bill Tiberio came to Rochester with an extensive musical resum. A conductor in Fairport, Tiberio had been conducting top-caliber high school wind and jazz groups for years before he became involved at UR. Now, he brings his expertise to the River Campus music program, conducting both the Wind Symphony and the Jazz Ensemble. Tiberio is still an active jazz musician, playing and recording CDs with his groups, the Bill Tiberio Group and the Bill Tiberio Band.
How did you get into music?
I started playing clarinet in fifth grade and added the saxophone when I was a senior in high school.
Although everybody knows the tuba is the best, how did you start the clarinet, then the saxophone?
My father owned a clarinet, so I thought it would be great to start with that. When I was in high school, I really wanted to be involved with jazz band so I started saxaphone on my own I never really have had saxophone lessons.
What is the most important thing about music for you personally?
Music is a true expression of my deepest feeling. I would say it’s a connection with my soul and the people around me.
If you could play on stage with any one artist living or dead, who would it be?
I’ll bring a couple. Pat Metheny would be one. David Sanborn would be another. And then Leonard Bernstein.
What song/artist is playing most on your iPod right now?
Right now I listen to a lot of Pat Metheny’s music.
What is one of your funniest band memories, either from high school or from college or even from playing now?
We were on a trip in New York City and a brand new tenor saxophone got run over by one of our own buses. Flattened to an absolute pancake, and all any of us could do was to laugh our butts off about it.
Clark is a member of the class of 2012.
