Todd M. French

Education

• DM, Indiana University

• MM, Indiana University

• BM, University of Nebraska-Lincoln

Expertise

• Tuba

• Euphonium

Biography

Todd M. French is Associate Professor of Tuba and Euphonium at Murray State University. Along with his duties as the tuba/euphonium professor, Dr. French also teaches music theory, coaches chamber ensembles, and conducts the MSU Brass Choir and Tuba/Euphonium Ensemble. Prior to joining the faculty at Murray State University, Dr. French was the Tuba/Euphonium Senior Instructor at Eastern Illinois University. He also served as an Associate Instructor at Indiana University and held faculty positions as Applied Tuba and Euphonium Instructor at Doane College in Crete, Nebraska and Low Brass Instructor at Point Loma Nazarene College in San Diego, California.

Dr. French has a diverse performing career as a soloist, chamber musician, military musician, orchestral musician, and commercial artist. His career includes serving as principal tuba and soloist with the U.S. Seventh Fleet Navy Band (Japan) and Navy Band San Diego. Dr. French has performed with numerous other ensembles across the country, including the Indianapolis Symphony, the Indianapolis Chamber Winds, the Prairie Chamber Ensemble, the Omaha Symphony, the Lincoln Symphony, and the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra. Dr. French has performed with international recording artists, such as Leann Rimes, Jason Marsalis, Marvin Hamlisch, Neil Sedaka, The Celtic Women, and performed on Garrison Keillor’s, A Prairie Home Companion. Along with tuba, Dr. French is an accomplished trombone player. He has toured with The Jimmy Dorsey Big Band, the Nebraska Jazz Orchestra, and the National touring shows Bachelors of Broadway, Ragtime, and Beauty and the Beast.

Dr. French has been a performer and presenter at the International Tuba Euphonium Conferences, Midwest and Southeast Regional Tuba Euphonium Conferences, the Symposium on Music Teacher Educators, the Midwest NAfME Conference, Colloquium for Instrumental Music Teacher Educators, Illinois Music Educators Conference, and the Kentucky Music Educators Conference. He is an active recitalist, clinician, and adjudicator; and presents performance master classes and teaching clinics across the Midwest and Southeast.

Dr. French received his Doctor of Music from Indiana University Jacobs School of Music. He also holds a Master of Music from Indiana University and a Bachelor of Music from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.