MUSICAL TRAINING AND EXPERIENCE 

Richard has been a professional musician, musical director and private instructor for over 25 years. He received his formal music education at Brown University and Berklee College of Music. 

 

He has performed on 7 international concert tours and is a mentee of jazz icon Max Roach. Over the years, he has performed behind notable artists such as Patti LaBelle, Natalie Cole, Loretta Devine, Barry Harris, James Taylor, Bishop TD Jakes, Hezekiah Walker, and the Boston Pops Orchestra. 

 

He is also a recording artist and composer of over 350 songs. His group, Jazz in the Spirit, features his original gospel jazz compositions and arrangements. 

 

Richard has worked as a musical director for churches and ensembles in Providence, Boston, New York City and Richmond, and had the opportunity to teach and mentor hundreds of young people and adults and cultivate their musical potential in choirs, groups, bands, as soloists, and through formal private lessons. 

 

AS AN INSTRUCTOR 

As a private instructor, Richard seeks to spark the same excitement, love and appreciation for music in his students as he possesses. He uses innovative methods, developed through years of experience, to motivate students of all levels. He understands and emphasizes the importance of discipline and not settling for less than your best, while also infusing humor and encouragement, so students are able to "fail forward," i.e., learn from mistakes so they continue to make progress, while building their confidence. 

 

He often uses long term projects that are either very challenging for the student's current level or that the student really enjoys in order to motivate them to practice consistently over a period of time. His students have successfully performed pieces in recitals, schools, etc. as varied as the Turkish March and Sonata in C by Mozart, Waterfalls by TLC, Ave Maria by J. S. Bach, Mr. Magic by Grover Washington, Jr., Just By Grace by Richard D'Abreu, Jr., My Favorite Things by John Coltrane, Fur Elise and Moonlight Sonata by Beethoven, Order My Steps by Glenn Burleigh, I Wish I Never Met Her by Carl Thomas, and All of Me by John Legend.