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BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH Richard Isadore Schwartz was born on 11 March 1951 in St. Louis, Missouri. His parents, Lillian (31 August 1916 - 27 March 1988) and Bernard (24 February 1913 - ), were both born and raised in St. Louis, Missouri. They were both ancestors of families that immigrated to the United States from the Ukraine and Rumania respectively. Always encouraged to explore music, Richard began studying piano at age 8. The next year, he began study of the clarinet. Graduating from University City High School in 1969, he continued with his education at The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, receiving his Bachelor of Music in Instrumental Music Education in 1973. He returned to St. Louis to receive his Masters in Performance in 1975 (Clarinet) and his PhD in 1982 (Music Theory) from Washington University in St. Louis. During his first year of employment at Virginia State University, he married Iris Joy Schankman on 26 December 1976. Having received a Bachelor of Music Education from Webster University in St. Louis, Iris founded the band programs at Bollingbrook School, St. Joseph’s School, and Gibbons High School in Petersburg, Virginia. Presently she is the conductor of The Richmond Symphonic Winds, the Richard Bland College Community Wind Ensemble, the Richmond Concert Ballet Orchestra, and the St. Joseph’s School Band Program. Richard is presently Professor of Music and Coordinator of the Music Theory Area at Virginia State University. Courses taught include Applied Clarinet and Saxophone, Basic Theory, Chromatic Harmony, Counterpoint, Composition, and Woodwinds. His professional experience includes performing as clarinet soloist with the Petersburg Symphony Orchestra and the Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra of St. Louis; clarinetist with the St. Louis Philharmonic, Petersburg Symphony Orchestra, the Richard Bland College Community Wind Ensemble, the Richmond Symphonic Winds, and the Washington University Wind Ensemble and Orchestra; clarinet and saxophone substitute with the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra and The Richmond Symphony Orchestra; and cornetist and cornet soloist with the Richmond Brass Consort and the Richard Bland College Community Wind Ensemble. His performing experiences also include playing the shawm and percussion with A Company of Waites Renaissance Band. Publications include articles and reviews in the Music Educators Journal, and the North American College Wind and Percussion Instructors Society Journal. Published compositions include Elegy for Saxophone Quartet, and many compositions published by Warwick Music including a band arrangement of Florian Mueller’s Concert Music for Bass Tuba. Published books include The Cornet Compendium, Supplement to the Cornet Compendium, and Bands at the St. Louis World’s Fair of 1904. Articles and reviews appear in the Historic Brass Society Journal. Other compositions range from unaccompanied clarinet pieces to original compositions for full symphonic band. |
