W. Aaron Rice attended Hendrix College (BA in Music) in Conway, Arkansas, where he studied composition, counterpoint, and orchestration under Dr. Karen Griebling as well as trombone and conducting under Dr. Karen Fannin. After leaving Hendrix, he took over the position of Music Director and Conductor of the Saline County Community Orchestra, which performed the first movement of Sibelius’s Violin Concerto with Kiril Laskarov, concertmaster of the Arkansa Symphony Orchestra, under his baton.
Now living in Tucson, Arizona, Rice studied music composition at the University of Arizona Fred Fox School of Music (MM in Composition). He studied composition under Professor Daniel Asia and Dr. Pamela Decker, and he studied trombone under Professor Moisés Paiewonsky. During his time at the University of Arizona, Rice served as Music Director for the local chapter of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia and as a teaching assistant in music theory and aural skills.
Aaron taught 5th through 8th middle school music (band, orchestra, and choir) at Tucson Country Day School in the ’17-’18 school year, and he currently directs music at Beautiful Savior Lutheran Church while studying his DMA in choral and orchestral conducting (anticipated completion – May ’22). At Beautiful Savior, he directs the Chancel Choir, men’s/women’s summer choruses, handbells, and the FUSION semi-contemporary ensemble, all of which have shifted functions to recording projects during the global health crisis.