Born and raised in California's Central Valley towns of Tulare and Modesto, Roger Nixon acquired a taste for the rhythms and dances of the early settlers of the state, and they appear in many of his works. He obtained his Ph.D. from the University of California at Berkeley and subsequently taught there and at Modesto Junior College. He joined the faculty at San Francisco State University in 1960 and is currently Professor Emeritus of Music there. He has written more than 60 compositions for orchestra, band, choir, and opera. In 1997, Nixon was honored by the Texas Bandmasters Association as a Heritage American Composer.