The music of composer Martin Rokeach has been described as “. . . dramatic, unpredictable, rich and multi-layered (Gramophone Magazine); “surprising and utterly delicious” (San Antonio Express News); “Rokeach has a rare talent for knowing exactly how long his music should be . . . not one second longer, nor shorter, than necessary” (20th Century Music). About his Piccolo Concerto, premiered by the Oakland Symphony, the San Francisco Chronicle wrote “ . . . you can hear a new kind of character being forged for the piccolo. It’s the kind of thing that instrumentalists all over might Undertake.”

Rokeach’s works have been performed by the Oakland Symphony, Ensemble Variant (Geneva), Pacific Mozart Ensemble, United States Army Orchestra, Dunsmuir Piano Quartet (SF), League of Composers (NY), Ensemble Flageolet (Flagstaff), Chicago Ensemble, Musica Nova (Macedonia), Duo Sforzando (Geneva), Vermont Contemporary Music Ensemble, the St. Petersburg Chamber Players (Russia), Webster Trio (Houston), Guitarinet (Poland), New Dischord (Chattanooga), Tempo (Los Angeles) and many other outstanding ensembles and soloists throughout the U. S., Europe, and Australia. His works have earned honors in over a dozen national or international competitions, most recently those sponsored by the Atlanta Contemporary Ensemble and International Horn Society.

In addition to the Oakland Symphony, he has been commissioned to write music for the Ellsworth Smith International Trumpet Competition, New York’s Cygnus Ensemble, Switzerland’s Dobrzelewski/Marrs Duo, Left Coast Chamber Ensemble, Music Teachers Association of California, New York’s Eight Strings, and a Whistle and numerous soloists. He was a featured composer at the Haute école de Musique in Sion, Switzerland, Hartt Conservatory of Music, New York University and Wichita State University. Concerts devoted exclusively to his music have been held at Washington State University and Western Carolina University. Martin Rokeach earned his Ph.D. in music composition and theory from Michigan State University and Bachelor and Masters degrees from San Francisco State. For 33 years he was Artistic Co-Director of San Francisco’s contemporary music concert series, Composers, Inc. Currently he is Professor Emeritus at Saint Mary’s College of California, composing full-time, and planning to attend upcoming performances of his music in San Francisco, Montreal, New York and Sweden