Dr. Eric Richards is the Director of Bands and Jazz Studies at Sheridan College where he serves as Music Director of the SC Symphony Band, Jazz Ensemble, Jazztet, Concert Brass Ensemble, Trombone Choir, and teaches applied brass, composition, Keyboard Theory, History of Jazz, and leads program initiatives in recruiting, outreach, and curriculum development. He also serves as the Music Director of the Whitney Center Jazz Orchestra, Sheridan College’s professional big band-in-residence.
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), 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. 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 Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Kansas, North Dakota, South Carolina, South Dakota, and Wyoming All State High School Jazz Ensembles as well as the Southern California Honor Jazz All-Stars in concert performance at the 2018 NAMM Convention in Anaheim.
His work as an educator is energized by his work as a widely performed composer/arranger, conductor, trombonist and educator active in a wide range of musical media and genres. Eric’s music has been heard on six continents in performances and recordings by professional and academic ensembles in major concert venues across North and South America, Europe, Australia, Asia and India to include:
• National Symphony Orchestra
• Baltimore Symphony Orchestra
• Boston Pops Orchestra
• Chiara String Quartet
• US Army Field Band and Jazz Ambassadors
• USAF Band and the Airmen of Note
• USAF Academy Falconaires
• US Army Band (Pershing's Own)
• US Marine Band (The President's Own)
• Sydney Jazz Orchestra (Australia)
• University of North Texas Wind Ensemble
• California State University Concert Jazz Orchestra
• University of Northern Colorado Jazz Lab Band I
• Shanghai Conservatory of Music Jazz Ensemble
• Carnegie Hall (New York)
• Midwest Clinic (Chicago)
• Montreux, North Sea, and Nice Jazz Festivals.
From 1984 – 2004, Eric served as Composer/Arranger with The United States Army Field Band, the Army’s premiere touring musical organization based near Washington DC. Audiences worldwide enjoyed his music for wind ensemble, symphony orchestra, jazz 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.
His music is published by Alfred/Belwin, C.L. Barnhouse, FJH Music, Hal Leonard, University of Northern Colorado Jazz Press, and Eric Richards Music Services.
For more information, please visit his Soundcloud Music Sampler page:
https://soundcloud.com/ericrich