Charles-Richard Lambert


Charles-Richard Lambert was an American musician, conductor and music educator. He and his family were noted for talent in music and gained international acclaim.

Life and career

Lambert was born in New York City, but settled in New Orleans. He married a free Creole woman of color, and his first son was Charles Lucien Lambert, born in 1828. After his first wife died, he married Coralie Suzanne Orzy, also a free woman of color. They had a son Sidney Lambert, born in 1838. Both sons studied music with their father, and afterward became noted musicians and composers. Lambert's grandson Lucien-Léon Guillaume Lambert, born in 1858, was also a noted musician and composer.
Lambert worked as a music teacher and was a conductor for the Philharmonic Society, the first non-theatrical orchestra in New Orleans. Lambert died in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, while performing there with his son Sidney. Noted students include Edmond Dédé.