Richard Cumming

Composer, conductor, pianist and teacher, educated at San Francisco Community College and Conservatory, and a student of Roger Sessions, Ernest Bloch, Arnold Schoenberg, and Rudolf Firkusny through Ford and Wurlitzer grants. He toured as a concert pianist and accompanied concert singers, and he also was the assistant conductor for the Santa Fe Opera. Winning first prize in the NFMC Young Composers Contest in 1954, he went on to receive commissions from Thor Johnson, John Browning, and the Ford Foundation. He was a lecturer at the University of Saskatchewan in 1956, and a guest lecturer and conductor of seminars for the University of Colorado and East Carolina College in 1963-1964. His stage background scores include "The Duchess of Malfi" and "The Policeman".