Dr. Jim Raushcher

Professor Jim Rauscher retired in 2016 as a member of the music faculty at Amarillo College, where he taught piano for 35 years, and also served as chairman of the Music Department from 1988 to 2013.  He has been extremely active in the Texas Panhandle as a solo recitalist, accompanist, teacher, and adjudicator.  Principal keyboardist for the Amarillo Symphony Orchestra since 1981, he has also been a frequent guest soloist with the orchestra, performing such works as Beethovens Choral Fantasy, Gershwins Rhapsody in Blue, Saint-Saens Concerto No. 2 in G Minor, Mendelssohns Concerto No. 1 in G Minor, and in Liszt/Busonis Rhapsodie Espagnol for Piano and Orchestra.

 

He has also appeared as soloist with the West Texas State University Band, the Texas Tech University Orchestra, the Texas Tech University Symphonic Band, and the Amarillo Virtuosi of Chamber Music Amarillo. Dr. Rauscher showed an early affinity for music, beginning piano studies at the age of six in his hometown of Medford, Wisconsin.  He also studied the trumpet, entering college as a trumpet major.  He performed extensively on both the trumpet and the piano, receiving a Bachelor of Music Education degree from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire in 1979 with majors in both instruments. 

 

A Master of Music in Piano Performance and Literature degree followed in 1981 from the University of Illinois at Urbana/Champaign, and he received the Ph. D. in Fine Arts degree in 1991 from Texas Tech University, with emphasis in piano performance. He and his wife, Vanessa, recently retired as the Directors of Music and Liturgy at St. Mary's Catholic Cathedral in Amarillo, where he was the principal organist/pianist.