When do you fall in love with an instrument?  Richard was in 7th grade when he tried the Euphonium for the first time. After 20 years, 4 degrees, and gold medal al the Leonard Falcone Euphonium Artist Contest, Richard still has the same love of the sound of this instrument.  

The original conical, chromatic "low brass" instrument, was not made out of brass at all.  It was carved out of two planks of wood, glued together, and wrapped with leather.  Its fingerholes help it play a 3+octave range, and it was in constant use in Europe from the 1600s-1830s.  This instrument does not play like a modern brass instrument, so many brass players in the 20th century have tried to play on damaged specimens and assumed it was poorly designed. The serpent has resurged in popularity recently due to modern craftsmen building new replicas.  Richard performs on one of these modern replicas, but the sound it produces truly lets you appreciate the timbre that baroque composers had in mind when scoring for the instrument.