Richard Ross Hembree grew up in Visalia, CA, where he began studying the French horn at College of the Sequoias. He transferred to California State University, Fresno and it was there that his passion for both concert band literature and chamber music grew. He was a member of the President's Wind Quintet, frequently performing at University functions as a member of the honorary wind quintet. He began to write music for band and wind quintet on the side and ultimately graduated from Fresno State University with a Master's Degree in horn performance.
Now a high school band director, Richard continues to make time for performance and composition. He has now published several works for band as well as one piece for wind quintet. His music has been performed all over the United States and overseas, as far as Macedonia. In 2017, Richard’s published work, The Kid’s Sunshine March, was selected as an editor’s choice piece on JWPepper.com, the world’s largest sheet music retailer. As of 2021, his collected works include more than two dozen works for concert band and nine wind quintets.