Steven Richman


Steven Richman is an American conductor and writer. He is music director of Harmonie Ensemble/New York, which he founded in 1979, and the Dvořák Festival Orchestra of New York.

Career

Originally a French horn player, the New York-born Richman studied at the Manhattan School of Music with Arthur Berv, principal horn of the NBC Symphony Orchestra under Arturo Toscanini. He also studied with Richard Moore, principal of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, and Philip Farkas, principal of the Chicago Symphony. For 20 years, Richman was assistant principal horn in the American Symphony Orchestra at Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center under Leopold Stokowski, as well as Leonard Bernstein and James Levine. He was a winner of the Concert Artists Guild Solo Recital Award. He participated in the Aspen Music Festival and studied conducting at the Pierre Monteux School.
He has conducted Dvořák with members of the National Symphony Orchestra in Washington, D.C., as well as the Janáček Philharmonic Orchestra in the Czech Republic, and given master classes on Dvořák at DePaul University in Chicago. Richman is featured guest commentator at Lincoln Center Library programs on subjects including Toscanini, Gershwin, and Dvořák.
As a conductor, his repertoire spans classical, jazz, and more for orchestra, chamber orchestra, symphonic jazz, big band, chamber and wind ensemble. Richman and Harmonie Ensemble/New York are recipients of a Grammy Award nomination, as well as winners of the Lincoln Center Community Arts Award, WQXR Action for the Arts Award, and Classical Recording Foundation Award at Carnegie Hall. He has conducted 14 CDs, including a Toscanini 150th Anniversary Tribute comprising works by Rossini, Bizet/Toscanini, Tchaikovsky, Waldteufel/Toscanini, and Verdi, released in October 2017 on the Bridge Records label, with notes by Toscanini scholar Harvey Sachs. Richman has conducted a wide variety of classical and jazz performances and recordings ranging from Gershwin, Handel, Stravinsky, and Dvořák to Henry Mancini, Duke Ellington/Billy Strayhorn, and Gil Evans/Miles Davis.
Richman has conducted at all of New York's major halls, including Carnegie Hall, Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center, Merkin Concert Hall, and St. Peter's Church, and toured the United States under Columbia Artists Management.

Recordings

For three decades, Richman researched, performed, and recorded Gershwin's rare original symphonic orchestrations. In 2016 on the Harmonia Mundi label, he led a Gershwin orchestral CD including Concerto in F, An American in Paris, and two premieres. In addition, in 2010 the multi-award-winning Gershwin by Grofé was also released on the Harmonia Mundi label featuring clarinetist-bass clarinetist-alto saxophonist Al Gallodoro, soloist with the Paul Whiteman Orchestra, which premiered Rhapsody in Blue in 1924. Additional recordings include the 2002 Grammy Award-nominated Stravinsky: Histoire du Soldat and Four Premieres, on Koch International Classics. He also recorded The Two Nutcrackers, Classical and Jazz, including the Tchaikovsky Nutcracker Suite, and the Duke Ellington/Billy Strayhorn jazz band version of the Nutcracker Suite, released in 2013. The 50th anniversary recording of the Miles Davis/Gil Evans Sketches of Spain with trumpeter Lew Soloff was released on Sheffield Lab and Copland: Rarities and Masterpieces on Bridge Records. The latter was also featured in the Ken Burns WNET-TV documentary and on video. New York Times music critic James R. Oestreich chose Richman's Dvořák Discoveries CD as one of the Five Best Dvořák Recordings for the 2004 Dvořák Centennial. The disc included the premieres of the Octet-Serenade, as well as Dvořák's arrangement of Stephen Foster’s "Old Folks at Home" for baritone, chorus, and orchestra. The original Music for Peter Gunn by Henry Mancini was released in 2014, about which Richman was featured on National Public Radio’s All Things Considered. In addition, he has appeared on numerous radio stations worldwide.

Dvořák Day Concerts

Beginning in 1994, Richman led a series of benefit concerts to place a statue of Czech composer Antonín Dvořák in New York City's Stuyvesant Square Park. He conducted the Dvořák Day Concert on Sept. 13, 1997, which became an annual event, including both American and Czech artists. The New York City Council officially declared that date "Dvořák Day" at Richman's suggestion. The historic Dvořák Day Concert in St. George's Episcopal Church in Manhattan included the "New World" Symphony conducted by him, as well as Dvořák's great-grandson, violinist Josef Suk, playing the Sonatina for Violin and Piano, and was released internationally on the Music & Arts label.

Aaron Copland 80th Birthday Concert

Both Richman and dean of American composers Aaron Copland conducted Harmonie Ensemble/New York at the Copland 80th Birthday Concert on Nov. 22, 1980, at New York's Symphony Space. The program was broadcast live on National Public Radio. Copland led the original 13-instrument version of Appalachian Spring and Richman conducted Copland's Music for the Theatre. A film, Copland at 80: A Self-Portrait, including the composer conducting Harmonie Ensemble/New York, has been broadcast internationally and released on video worldwide. Leonard Bernstein spoke, and was among the many prominent musical figures in attendance.

Lincoln Center Concerts

At New York's Lincoln Center, Richman conducted a Handel 300th Birthday Concert at Damrosch Park featuring the first fireworks show in the history of Lincoln Center, a Gershwin Memorial Concert that drew the largest audience in the history of the center, and a Leonard Bernstein 70th Birthday Concert, which received a special letter of commendation from New York City Mayor Ed Koch.

United Nations Day Concerts

He served as music associate for United Nations Day Concerts international TV broadcasts, assisting director Humphrey Burton and collaborating with conductors including Yehudi Menuhin, Zubin Mehta, Lorin Maazel, Richard Bonynge, and Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos.

Writing

He contributed to the book Dvořák in America and has written articles on Dvořák in New York. He wrote Copland and Me, articles on Gershwin, Toscanini, cellist Martin Ormandy, and Gershwin's associate, composer Kay Swift, and reviewed recordings on WQXR-FM's First Hearing.

Personal life

Richman has been married to violinist Katsuko Esaki since 1984. She has performed with New York orchestras including the Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra at Lincoln Center and The Little Orchestra Society, and served as concertmaster for numerous Broadway shows including Guys and Dolls and Dreamgirls.

Discography (Harmonie Ensemble/New York and Dvořák Festival Orchestra)