Lucas Richman, composer
GRAMMY award-winning conductor Lucas Richman has served as Music Director for the Bangor Symphony Orchestra since 2010 and held the position as Music Director for the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra from 2003-2015. Over the course of nearly four decades on the podium, he has garnered an international reputation for his graceful musical leadership in a diverse field of media. In concert halls, orchestral pits and recording studios around the world, Richman earns rave reviews for his artful collaborations with artists in both the classical and commercial music arenas. Mr. Richman received a GRAMMY Award (2011) in the category of Best Classical Crossover Album for having conducted the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra on Christopher Tin’s classical/world fusion album, Calling All Dawns. Additional information detailing his work as a conductor can be found at www.lucasrichman.com.
An accomplished composer, Mr. Richman has had his music performed by over two hundred orchestras across the United States including the New York Philharmonic, the Boston Pops and the symphonies of Detroit, Atlanta, New Jersey and Houston. He has fulfilled commissions for numerous organizations including the Pittsburgh Symphony, Knoxville Symphony, Bangor Symphony, Johnstown Symphony, Oak Ridge Symphony, Bemidji Symphony, Los Angeles Jewish Symphony, the Maine Science Festival, the Debussy Trio, the Seattle Chamber Music Society and the Organ Artists Series of Pittsburgh.
September, 2015, brought the vaunted Albany Records release of a new CD, IN TRUTH Lucas Richman, which features the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra performing his Concerto for Piano and Orchestra: In Truth. In November, 2009, as the result of an NEA commission, the San Diego Symphony Orchestra premiered his Behold the Bold Umbrellaphant, which Jahja Ling and the SDSO recorded for release in December, 2011. A complete listing of Mr. Richman’s compositions and recordings can be found through LeDor Group, Inc. at www.ledorgroup.com.
Mitchell Newman, violinist
Violinist Mitchell Newman retired from the Los Angeles Philharmonic in 2020. During his 34-year career, he worked with many of the world’s great conductors including music directors Andre Previn, Esa-Pekka Salonen and Gustavo Dudamel, and guest conductors Simon Rattle, Kurt Sanderling, Herbert Blomstedt, Thomas Wilkins, Eric Leinsdorf, Zubin Mehta, Emmanuelle Haim, Miguel Harth-Bedoya, Michael Tilson-Thomas, and Simone Young.
A passionate advocate for bringing music to underserved communities, Mr. Newman founded “Harmony: Music for Mental Health”, a chamber music/fundraising concert for Mental Health America Long Beach. In 2010 he was named a mental health hero by the California State Senate. In 2015 he started “Coming Home to Music” which brings concerts of classical chamber music and jazz concerts to people who were experiencing homelessness, who are now living in apartment complexes built by People Assisting the Homeless (PATH).
Mr. Newman is also a dedicated teacher. He was deeply involved in the LA Phil’s Youth Orchestra Los Angeles (YOLA) program since its inception, providing its students private lessons, master classes, and conducting string sectionals. For more than a decade he planned, curated, conducted, and hosted, in English and Spanish, an annual concert featuring YOLA students and LA Philharmonic members playing side-by-side. Mr. Newman occasionally travels to Mexico to give master classes and perform fundraising concerts for the Benning Academy. The Academy builds outstanding music conservatories and provides free lessons and instruments to Mexico’s most needy children in their neighborhoods. Mr. Newman has also taught at the Colburn School, The Curtis Institute of Music, the Philadelphia International Music Festival, and conducted the string ensemble of the Pascale Music Institute, leading the ensemble in a concert at Carnegie Hall in 2017.
Currently, Mr. Newman resides in Philadelphia. He is collaborating with composer Lucas Richman on the “Paths To Dignity Project.” Broadening the work he did in Los Angeles, the project features Mr. Newman performing Mr. Richman’s violin concerto “Paths To Dignity.” Additionally, Mr. Newman is facilitating the collaboration between musical institutions and homeless advocacy organizations in the cities where he performs with the goal of inspiring and motivating others to continue the important work in bringing humanity and dignity to a community that desperately needs support in this time of crisis. There are performances scheduled in Raleigh, NC, Kalamazoo, MI and Bangor, ME.
Mr. Newman also teaches chamber music ensembles for the Settlement School, and The University of Pennsylvania. He conducts the String Chamber Orchestra at Play On Philly, and the Chamber Players Orchestra for Temple University Preparatory Division. He also teaches privately.
Mr. Newman is a graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music, studying violin with Aaron Rosand, David Cerone, and Yumi Ninomiya. He studied chamber music with Karen Tuttle, Felix Galamir, and Mischa Schneider. At the Meadowmount School for Strings he studied violin with Ivan Galamian and chamber music with Josef Gingold.