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Eric Richards - A native of Pittsburgh currently residing in the great state of Wyoming, Dr. Eric Richards serves as the Director of Bands and Jazz Studies at Sheridan College where he serves as Music Director of the Sheridan Wind Ensemble, Jazz Ensemble, Jazz Combo, teaches applied brass, composition, History of Jazz, and leads program initiatives in recruiting, outreach, and curriculum development.
He is a versatile and widely performed composer/arranger, conductor, trombonist and educator active in a wide range of musical media and genres. As a composer who defines himself as a contemporary American eclectic, he has written music for groups ranging from rural high school marching bands to chamber music ensembles to nationally recognized big bands and symphony orchestras. Erics work as a composer/arranger and trombonist has been heard worldwide in performances recordings by professional and academic ensembles in major concert venues across the United States, Europe, Australia, Asia and India to include:
National Symphony Orchestra
Baltimore Symphony Orchestra
Boston Pops Orchestra
Detroit Symphony Orchestra
New York Pops Orchestra
Chiara String Quartet
US Army Field Band and Jazz Ambassadors
USAF Band and the Airmen of Note
US Army Band (Pershing's Own)
US Marine Band (The President's Own)
Sydney Jazz Orchestra (Australia)
University of North Texas Wind Ensemble
Shanghai Conservatory of Music Jazz Ensemble
Yellowstone Big Band
Carnegie Hall (New York)
Midwest Clinic (Chicago)
Montreux, North Sea, and Nice Jazz Festivals.
Recent engagements as a guest composer, conductor and teacher include residencies or commissions at:
Washington State University
Lamont School of Music (University of Denver)
Colorado Christian University
Shanghai Conservatory of Music
Taipei Jazz Orchestra
Winona State University
Yellowstone Jazz Camp
Metropolitan Jazz Orchestra (Denver, CO).
From 2008 2015, he served as tenured Associate Professor of Composition and Jazz Studies in the Glenn Korff School of Music at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. At UNL, he mentored first-year through doctoral students in applied composition (classical and jazz/vernacular styles), taught related courses such as Orchestration and Jazz Arranging, and organized and led the award-winning UNL Jazz Orchestra 2.0, an innovative 21st Century jazz ensemble combining traditional big band instrumentation with strings, horn, and percussion. His students have been the recipients of commissions, numerous awards for their creative work (to include the Downbeat Student Music Awards and the ASCAP Young Jazz Composer Award) and collegiate faculty appointments. He is the recipient of the 2012 Distinguished Teaching Award in the Hixson-Lied College of Fine and Performing Arts at UNL. Eric has led the Connecticut, Florida, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wyoming All State High School Jazz Ensembles in concert performance.
From 1984 2004, Eric served as Composer/Arranger with The United States Army Field Band, the Armys premiere touring musical organization based near Washington DC. Audiences worldwide enjoyed his music for jazz orchestra, wind ensemble, symphony orchestra, and voices. He honorably retired as a Senior Non-Commissioned Officer at the rank of Master Sergeant (E-8). Eric earned the Doctor of Musical Arts (Composition) degree from the University of Maryland at College Park where he studied with Mark Wilson and Robert Gibson. He holds the Master of Music (Composition) and Bachelor of Science(Music Education) degrees from Duquesne University in Pittsburgh where he studied with John Doc Wilson, Joseph Willcox Jenkins, and Matty Shiner.
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