Expertise
Choral Music, Music Education
Education
- DMA: Choral Conducting, (2017), Boston University - Boston, Mass.
- MM: Choral Conducting, (2009), Yale University - New Haven, Conn.
- BA: Music, (2006), University of Connecticut
- BS: Education, (2006), University of Connecticut
Biosketch
Jonathan Richter, DMA, is the Director of Choral Activities and an Assistant Teaching Professor at the University of Massachusetts Lowell where he directs three ensembles and teaches various courses in choral methods, conducting, voice pedagogy, and musicianship. Under his leadership the UMass Lowell choral ensembles have collaborated with many arts organizations in the region, performed many masterworks of the choral genre, and engaged in broad community outreach in public schools and other civic venues.
Richter has led choral programs in a wide variety of music-making environments, including public and private high schools, universities, community music schools, community choirs, and places of worship. He has conducted All-State and regional honor choirs in Connecticut, Massachusetts, New York, and Rhode Island through both the National Association for Music Education (NAfME) and the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA). Additionally, he has been selected to present interest sessions at conferences of the National Collegiate Choral Organization (NCCO) and ACDA, and serves as the Collegiate Chair on the board of Massachusetts ACDA.
For eight years Richter served on the faculty of New England Conservatory in Boston, Mass., during which time he directed the college's Concert Choir, taught graduate courses and private lessons in choral conducting, and led a dynamic choral program in the school's preparatory division. During his tenure at NEC Prep, enrollment in the youth choruses tripled and the ensembles performed a number of renowned major works, including Joseph Haydn's "Lord Nelson Mass," Carl Orff's "Carmina Burana," Michael Tippett's "A Child of Our Time," and Francis Poulenc's "Gloria." From 2011-2018 Richter also taught at Roger Williams University in Bristol, RI, where he ran the choral program and taught courses in musicianship and the humanities. Prior to his time teaching at the collegiate level, Richter successfully led public high school choral programs in Suffield, Conn. and Plymouth, Mass. Having worked for many years with adolescent and youth musicians, Richter has made the advancement of music education a focal point of his work at the collegiate level.
Richter holds degrees from Boston University (DMA), Yale University (MM), and the University of Connecticut (BA and BS), and has studied conducting privately with Ann Howard Jones, Scott Allen Jarrett, David Hoose, Marguerite L. Brooks, Simon Carrington, and Peter Bagley. An avid supporter of today’s composers, Richter has conducted or prepared choruses for premieres of new works by Silvio Amato, Whitman Brown, Stephen Feigenbaum, Bosba Pahn, Charles Tarver, Christopher Lee, and Derek J. Weagle, among others. In 2019 he was the recipient of the Exceeding Excellence in Teaching Award at UMass Lowell.
Selected Awards and Honors
- Exceeding Excellence in Teaching Award (2019) - College of Fine Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences