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on behalf of
The American Society for Jewish Music
for the Conference
"The Art of Synagogue Music"
November 12-14, 2006
New York City
Biographical Sketch of Stephen Richards
Composer Contact:
Steve4mus@sbcglobal.net
Cantor Stephen Richards was born May 9, 1935 in New York City, the son of Sidney Solomon and Edna Jacobs Richards. He holds a Bachelor's Degree in Music from New York University (1957), a Master's Degree in Music Composition from Columbia University (1960), was invested Cantor at the School of Sacred Music of Hebrew Union College (1969) and received an Honorary Doctorate of Sacred Music from that institution. Cantor Richards has served as a faculty member of the School of Sacred Music and as Editor of Transcontinental Music Publications.
Cantor Richards has served on the Board of the American Conference of Cantors, the National Commission on Synagogue Music, and was the Project Director and Editor of Manginot, a Music Curriculum for Jewish Schools, published by the Union of American Hebrew Congregations. Richards has fulfilled commissions for the Chorus of the San Francisco Symphony, the School of Sacred Music, the Woodwind Department of the University of the Pacific, the Milwaukee Jewish Community Chorale, as well as over a hundred congregations. He was the cantor/educator of Congregation B'nai Tikvah in Walnut Creek, CA, from 1994 to 2000, where he is again serving as Cantor. He has also served Temple B'rith Kodesh, Rochester, NY (1969-71), Indianapolis Hebrew Congregation (1971-1977); Temple Beth Israel, Phoenix, 1980-1991; and Temple Kol Ami, Phoenix (1991-1993).
Richards is a member of the American Society of Composers, and American Conferece of Cantors, Guild of Temple Musicians.
For more information about Stephen Richards:
Marquis Who's Who in Relgion, 1992, 4th edition.
ASCAP Biographical Dictionary. Fourth edition. Compiled for the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers by Jaques Cattell Press. New York: R.R. Bowker, 1980.
Contemporary American Composers. A biographical dictionary. First edition. Compiled by E. Ruth Anderson. Boston: G.K. Hall & Co., 1976.
Contemporary American Composers. A biographical dictionary. Second edition. Compiled by E. Ruth Anderson. Boston: G.K. Hall & Co., 1982.
Discovering Jewish Music. By Marsha Bryan Edelman. Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 2003. Entries begin on page 349.
Source Citation for some of the above: Biography and Genealogy Master Index. Farmington Hills, Mich.: Thomson Gale, 1980- 2006.
Articles
Cohn, Abby. "Composer wants Jews to hum a few bars," Jewish Bulletin of Northern California. Accessed at http://www.jewishaz.com/jewishnews/00015/chordsid.html" on September 25, 2006.(Go Back to "American Judaism's Lost Legacy" Ten Composers Page)
CONTACT INFORMATION:
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November 5, 2006
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