“Music that pulls the listener in isn’t hostage to any style or genre”
A college music educator of more than thirty years, Richard Burchard has taught a variety of courses including Composition and Arranging, Music Technology, Music Theory and World Music as well as courses in study abroad programs in Salzburg, Austria and South Africa. A native of Meadville, PA, he attended Edinboro University of Pennsylvania and received both a BM and MM degree from the University of Louisville.
Burchard’s choral works have been performed and premiered throughout the United States at a number of state, regional and national choral conferences including ACDA and NCCO. European premieres of his choral music have been in Austria, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and Portugal. Other works have been premiered in China and Australia. Burchard’s portfolio includes over 100 commissioned works, most of them written for A Cappella Choir. He is published with the Fred Bock Publishing Group, Gentry Publications, H.T. Fitzsimons Co., National Music Publishers, and Pavane Publishing. Burchard also has two choral series with Gentry Publications: The Choral Music of Richard Burchard and The Richard Burchard Choral Series.
Burchard was named the Kentucky Music Teachers Association 2008 Commissioned Composer and have served as composer-in-residence for a number of organizations, including: The Louisville Vocal Project; Voces Novae, Louisville, KY; St. Martin of Tours Catholic Church, Louisville, KY; The Cathedral of the Assumption, Louisville KY; The American Cathedral in Paris, France; two years with The University of Kentucky Choral Department, Lexington, KY; and four years as Executive Composer-in-Residence at Bellarmine University in Louisville, KY.
Burchard’s major works include: The Seven Last Words of Christ, an 8-movement work for choir and strings, which received its Carnegie Hall debut on April, 2018; Stabat Mater, a 45-minute work for choir, strings, 3 trombones, clarinet, and percussion, which received its world premiere at the American Cathedral in Paris, France on March 29, 2019; and, Falling Stars, a 6-movement work for choir, strings, piano, harp, and clarinet, which received its world premiere on May 2 in Natchitoches, LA.
Burchard also has written larger works for choir and wind ensemble/strings including Flos Carmeli, To Music, and Dreamcatcher (symbol of unity), which received its world premiere at Carnegie Hall on June 16, 2019.