MUSIC DIRECTOR / CONDUCTOR

APRIL 2024

Richard conducts a full 24 piece orchestra in the pit and 39 actors onstage for UCF’s production of Sweeney Todd at the Dr. Phillips Center in downtown Orlando as part of UCF Celebrates the Arts.

SUMMER 2024

Richard will be joining the TEXAS SHAKESPEARE FESTIVAL this summer as their festival music director, where he will MD/conduct Sweeney Todd and serve as MD & pianist for Peter and the Starcatcher.

Other projects with this season include Music Supervisor for Peter and the Starcatcher and Vocal Coach for Metamorphoses, both of which will be presented by Theatre UCF on the main campus.

Richard is an experienced conductor and music director in opera, musical theatre and choral repertoire — having a particular interest in promoting new works that lift up the stories of under-represented groups. A recent project particularly close to his heart was music directing a workshop of a new musical at the Syracuse University Department of Drama with book & music by SU alumna Michaela Vivona. The show features a cast of 4 female identifying characters and centers around LGBTQ+ themes. 

In the spring of 2023 season, Richard was Vocal Director & Music Supervisor for Bright Star at the University of Central Florida, and Music Supervisor for the Reach for the Stars: UCF Alumni Showcase at the Dr. Phillips Center in Orlando as part of UCF Celebrates the Arts. In the Fall of 2022, he produced and directed 2 Cabaret Evenings with MT students at UCF in collaboration with instrumentalists from the UCF School of Music, both students and faculty.

Some favorite MD/conducting credits include Into the Woods, Godspell, A Little Night Music, Songs for a New World, Verdi's Macbeth, Don Giovanni, Red, Hot and Cole, Candide, Schubert’s Mass No.2 in G and Weill's The Threepenny Opera. Richard has also directed a variety of opera and musical theatre scenes programs at educational institutions including Syracuse University, Fairbanks Summer Arts Festival, Loyola College, Utica College and Binghamton University. He is a classically trained pianist and teaches college level courses in music theory, sight-singing/ear-training, score analysis & musical theater performance.

PC: Mckenzie Lakey