(b. 1968)
A multi-year ASCAPplus winner, Richard D. Russell’s music has been performed internationally and at prominent venues in New York. Highlights include a September 11, 2002 memorial performance of “Remembrances” at New York City’s Merkin Concert Hall, and a performance of “Design for Lightning” by trombonist Haim Avitsur in Israel. As well, his music has been performed in Bulgaria and Japan. In New York, some venues have included Symphony Space Thalia, CAMI Hall, the Ethical Culture Society, and Mannes College of Music.
Richard’s most recent successes were two commissions by esteemed musicologist Lawrence Kramer: one, a song cycle for Fordham University’s “Poets Out Loud” faculty group; second, a solo piano composition performed in conjunction with a two-day seminar sponsored by the journal, 19th-Century Music.
Richard also writes music for musical theater in collaboration with Emily Clare Thompson. These shows, both fun and educational, and have been produced by SALAD, the Student Actors League of Arts and Drama, an enrichment program at a public school in central New Jersey. In 2011, these SALAD musicals won a 2011 “Promising Practices” award from the Character Enrichment Partnership. This Washington, DC based organization is concerned with “Providing the vision, leadership and resources for school, families and communities to develop ethical citizens committed to building a just and caring world.” The citation for this can be found by clicking here.
A lifelong lover of music, Richard heard Beethoven’s “Moonlight Sonata” at age 13 and soon began his formal piano studies. Shortly thereafter he began composing. Over the years he has also studied guitar, trumpet, violin, and percussion. He earned his BA in Music Composition from Blackburn College (Illinois), graduating magna cum laude, and is currently pursuing his Masters at SUNY Empire State. He has presented lectures on the interdisciplinary nature of creativity at Mannes College of Music, to the New York Composers Circle, and to the East Hanover School District (NJ). He publishes a podcast, Creativity and Composition, available at iTunes. In addition, he publishes the online blog version of Creativity and Composition, available on this website.
Richard Russell has been active in the New York Composers Circle for several years, having served on its Steering Committee and acting as Managing Director. Currently, he acts as the NYCC webmaster and In The Loop newsletter editor. He is also the artistic consultant for In Mid Air Productions, which has presented several of Richard’s pieces.
Richard Russell’s music is published by Design for Lightning Music (ASCAP).
Top row, left to right: Stanichka Dimitrova | Thaddeus Ferguson, Chiara Issa | Stephen Solook, Tiffany DuMouchelle | the Stella Trio
Bottom row, left to right: Richard D. Russell, Christina Goyne | Emily Thompson, Richard D. Russell | Daniel Natkie & Jessica Castro in an Edgar Allan Poe concert