Howard Richards Music Page

Photo by Larry Wojcik

Greetings~

I'm Howard Richards. I have been a Jazz and Variety Pianist, Composer and Educator for the past 25 years. I'm located in Petoskey, Michigan which is part of Michigans 'Gold Coast'. My forte is Original,Jazz, Pop and Classical Piano, Organ and Keyboards.

On this site,you'll find many resources for the music scholar and educator including a tutorial for Jazz Improvisation.

Scroll down to find links to pages on this site that include articles essential to the development of your knowledge and skills as a music student or professional musician including my recent article "20th Century Scale Materials in Tonal Music". Please visit often as I'll be publishing more articles.

NEW ARTIST PROFILE PAGE Includes the track "Hard Night in the City".

NEWS...

On February 3rd, 2007, I performed at the Timothy Michael Gallery at 25 Oak St in Roswell, Ga. This was a unique French themed evening featuring artist Mathias DuHamel from France. I improvised to his brush strokes as he created a live performance painting that was auctioned off for the Children's Wish Foundation.

On January 15th, 2008 I performed on stage at Symphony Hall In Atlanta as part of a corporate video presentation for Columbian Chemicals

On March 17th,08 I went into the studios of Comcast to record for a cable access program featuring Atlanta Jazz Artists. The program - "Atlanta Jazz and Blues" airs on Saturday and Sunday evenings at 9:00pm, Channel 25 Cable Access. I will be featured weekly for the next 6 months including their Christmas Special in December. I also had the opportunity to record with Mark Cook on a Hammond B-3. Mark is an excellent guitarist, and his music is featured in the film "Saving Grace". On July 11th, I had the privelege of performing with "The Drifters" onstage at Bay View Conservatory during their Pops Concert Series as well as a trio performance with Jazz vocalist Pat Sehr for the last Vespers Concert of the season.

My recently released CD,"Piano Styles", is now available on i-Tunes in the U.S., Canada, Japan, Europe and Australia as well as being offered on Rhapsody, Napster, e-Music, Amazon MP3 and Sony Connect. The songs, "Waltz in the Park" and "Rondo", have been accepted for distribution through Crucial Music in L.A., and BeatPick in London and Rome as well as Pump Audio for placement in the Film/TV Industry. A British company has chosen "Hard Night in the City" for use in a promotional CD accompaning a new cookbook.

"Waltz in the Park" has also been named an 'honorary mention' by making the top ranks of the Billboard World Song Contest for 2008. I'm greatly honored by this considering the format was solo piano without vocals.

I also worked with the Latin Rock Band 'Gozon'. This is a recently formed group in Atlanta headed up by Colombian artist Gustavo Gonzales with smokin' hot rhythms and lyrics in Spanish, English and Italian. The band has done several local concerts throughout the Atlanta area. You can get more info and listen to the band at Myspace.

TEACHING SCHEDULE...

I will be scheduling piano students at my new location. I teach all levels in a tailored approach that fills the need of the individual student. Beginners at any age should find that lessons are fun and interesting. For the experienced players, they will also have fun, but will also be challenged to perform at their best. You can scroll down this page for more info about me. I am available for in home lessons in the Petoskey/Harbor Springs and Charlevoix area as well. For enrollment, please call me at 678-779-8807.

PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE...

There are no public performance events this month as I am performing for private engagements throughout October.

I am available for private functions, concerts, and corporate events.

There are press kits available for Artist Management, A&R, or Booking Agencies both online and via direct mail. For more information, please e-mail or call me directly at 678-779-8807.

You can download Howard Richards on iTunes.