The recipient of numerous honors and academic degrees, including a Doctorate of Musical Arts & Composition from the University of Southern California, Leroy W. Southers, Jr. is an extremely accomplished musician. Presently member of the Composition Faculty at the Berklee College of Music in Boston, he has also taught in Los Angeles at the University of Southern California and at Loyola Marymount University. Recipient of grants in musical composition from both the Ford Foundation and the National endowment on the Arts, he has published numerous musical compositions as well as written on a wide range of topics. In addition to teaching, Leroy Southers is presently working on a discography: "The Toscanini Legacy - His Orchestral Repertoire on Compact Discs" and composing a serenade for 10 wind instruments.