William Roper Loses (Almost All) His Tubas

An independent Altadena musician, long a fixture in the L.A. tuba and music world, talks about the Eaton Fire, his horns, and his life since.

William Roper lost 15 of his 18 tubas in that fire.

And 200 other instruments. A moderately famous collection of hats, a home he had rented for 32 years, and a neighborhood street where the working stiffs of the L.A. music and arts scene found it affordable to live.

This is my interview with him:

I first encountered William Roper over the phone in 2011.

I was writing a piece for the L.A. Times about the popularity of tubas in the region’s Mexican-immigrant world. He was generous enough to talk to me about L.A.’s importance to his horn, which is substantial.

That piece (see link below) gave rise, a dozen years later, to my next book, THE PERFECT TUBA, which I featured in my first newsletter.

As Facebook gained acceptance, I followed him there, without having actually met him.

His posts usually detailed gigs here and there with other local jazz musicians, or dancers, or with legendary free-jazz trumpeter (and retired Pomona College prof.) Bobby Bradford.

They unfailingly featured Roper, as he is known professionally, in some strange hat —though, I noticed, never the same hat.

He was the most adventurous tuba player I was aware of.

Any freelancer, including this one, knows you survive by nurturing a multitude of income streams.

From his Facebook posts, Roper’s seemed far-ranging indeed.

In January, I read with shock and sadness the news he had lost virtually everything he owned in the Eaton Fire that took down large pieces of Altadena.

Like many, he underestimated the fire’s threat. He saved only three of his tubas, only one of his hats, and a dryer-load of clothes.

He was left, as he says here, with more tubas than pants.

After some weeks, I ventured to ask him for another interview, this one on video, about his life now, at almost 70. So we met for the first time. This video is the result.

Please share it.

As my newsletter begins to take shape, I intend it to feature stuff I’m working on that may not be fully finished. Works in progress, in other words.

Roper’s interview is that. I’m hoping to put together a longer version of this interview about his life and career – learning the video-making craft as I go — and put it out in conjunction with The Perfect Tuba, when it releases this fall.

For those so inclined, here’s a link to Roper’s GoFundMe site.

Here’s that link to the 2011 LA Times story

S.Q.