Howard B. Richman performing solo and ensemble piano music including selections from standard classical repertoire and improvisation.
I studied piano seriously for 21 years and had eight different piano teachers: Adela Gebr, Aube Tzerko, Leonid Hambro, Steven Gordon, Johana Harris, Carey Lewis, Edward Auer and Nadya Cataldo. For many of these years I practiced piano for eight hours a day. I pay tribute to these wonderful people from whom I have learned so much. Here is my piano teacher lineage in case you are curious.
In addition to my piano teachers, it is important to note that various life experiences also contribute to who we are. For example, I remember playing for our family chiropractor, Dr. Vincent Messina when I was nine years old. He told me that it was possible to relax BETWEEN the notes and it really bothered me that he would dare to suggest this, since he wasn’t even a musician! But many years later, I realized that he was right and I figured out what to do to make it happen. This little point has been so pivotal in developing my own piano technique, regarding speed, relaxation and endurance.
Another example of “life experience” affecting my playing was from an art class I took while I was going for my masters degree at CalArts. The instructor had us read a book called “Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain.” The concept of “negative space” is something I literally had never known about. I never considered myself a visual artist. The assignment was to go outside and draw a car. But not draw the car itself but to draw everything AROUND the car. I was just blown away because all of a sudden, my “car” popped out of the page!! I immediately could see how this could be applied to music. When you “bring out” a melody, it is not always an issue of making that melody more prominent but rather that the background notes could also become softer, which gives you the actual result you want!
So many “aha” moments that we learn in life can be applied to the piano and vice versa, if we are receptive to them. I believe that many important skills that are learned from the process of studying piano can be applied to regular life, including time management, goal-setting, compromise, self-acceptance, balance, sensuality, patience, problem-solving, confidence, the art of listening and awe of the universe.
Going through my cherished old recordings and converting them to digital format has been quite a process, technologically and emotionally. My hope is that hearing these recordings might inspire you to work hard and to reach your own goals, whatever they may be. I also have a few video performances as well.
Currently, I’m fulfilled as a teacher myself and as a composer, and sound healer.
Beethoven Sonata Op 31 No 3, 3rd Movement, 1982
Piano Solo 3:22
Chopin Ballade Ab Op 47, 1982
Piano Solo 6:52
Scarlatti Sonata in A Maj, K24 – UCLA Senior Recital 2-10-80
Piano Solo 2:31
Scarlatti Sonata in G Maj, K523 – UCLA Senior Recital 2-10-80
Piano Solo 2:45
Beethoven Sonata in Eb, Op 31 No 3 – UCLA Senior Recital 2-10-80
Piano Solo 22:53
Chopin Polonaise in Dm, Op 71 No 1 – UCLA Senior Recital 2-10-80
Piano Solo 6:01
Chopin Mazurka in Am, Op 17 No 4 – UCLA Senior Recital 2-10-80
Piano Solo 5:37
Schubert Impromptu in Fm, Op 142 No 4 – UCLA Senior Recital 2-10-80
Piano Solo 6:52
Debussy Prelude, Vol 1 No 5 The Hills of Anacapri – UCLA Senior Recital 2-10-80
Piano Solo 3:25
Debussy Prelude, Vol 2 No 2 Dead Leaves – UCLA Senior Recital 2-10-80
Piano Solo 3:50
Liszt Hungarian Rhapsody in Am No 15 Rákóczi March – UCLA Senior Recital 2-10-80
Piano Solo 8:16
Debussy Image – Reflections on the Water, 1982
Piano Solo 4:28
Debussy Reflections on the Water – CalArts Masters Recital 12-4-1983
Piano Solo 5:15
Rzewski Sideshow No 4 from Squares – CalArts Masters Recital 12-4-1983
Piano Solo 3:31
Schumann Theme and Variations C#m Op 13 – CalArts Masters Recital 12-4-1983
Piano Solo 19:45
Mozart Sonata G major KV283 – CalArts Masters Recital 12-4-1983
Piano Solo 11:53
Chopin Sonata Bm Op 58 – CalArts Masters Recital 12-4-1983
Piano Solo 23:25
Richman Encore – Improvisation – CalArts Masters Recital 12-4-1983
Piano Solo 4:42
Haydn Sonata G Major Vol I, No 6 – Junior Recital UCLA 5-5-1978
Piano Solo 13:52
Chopin Etude C Major Op 10 No 1 – Junior Recital UCLA 5-5-1978
Piano Solo 2:07
Chopin Etude C# minor Op 10 No 4 – Junior Recital UCLA 5-5-1978
Piano Solo 2:33
Bach Prelude and Fugue Dm, Vol II – Home Recital 8-10-1977
Piano Solo 3:19
Haydn Sonata G Major Vol I, No 6 – Home Recital 8-10-1977
Piano Solo 10:21
Chopin Nocturne C#m Posthumuous – Home Recital 8-10-1977
Piano Solo 3:22
Chopin Etude C Major Op 10, No 1 – Home Recital 8-10-1977
Piano Solo 2:13
Chopin Etude C#m Op 10 No 4, 6-6-1985
Piano Solo 2:01
Chopin Etude in E Flat Minor, Op 10 No 6 – Albany Recital 8-23-1979
Piano Solo 3:50
Chopin Polonaise in A Flat Major, Op 53 – Albany Recital 8-23-1979
Piano Solo 6:52
Bach Prelude & Fugue in Cm, Vol I 1974
Piano Solo 3:24
Barber Excursion no 1 1974
Piano Solo 3:24
Barber Excursion no 4 1974
Piano Solo 2:15
Beethoven Sonata Op 2 no 3 1st Movement 1974
Piano Solo 7:45
Chopin Polonaise in Ab 1974
Piano Solo 6:44
Live, Improvised, Interactive Music – Howard Richman, Miles Simons, Ellen Burr
Piano/Soprano Sax/Flute 43:41
Program
Performance Art Concert – Piano and Voice Improv – Howard Richman, Lisa Gershten, May 8, 1985
piano/voice 54:18
Howard Richman, Lisa Gershen Opera Improv Lhasa Club Sep 28, 1985
piano/voice 31:48
Performance Art Concert – Piano and Voice Improv – Howard Richman, Lisa Gershten – Richard Basehart Theatre, April 26, 1992
piano/voice 59:20
Howard Richman – Improvisation – Albany Recital 8-23-1979
Piano Solo 5:45
Howard Richman and Stanley Taub, Piano Improvisation, Steinway Hall, NYC, 10-15-1999
Two-Piano Improvisation 1:02:42
Reviews of this Recital
Two-Piano Improv #1 Douglas Amster, Howard Richman, UCLA 2-26-79
Two-Piano Improvisation 34:09
Two-Piano Improv #2 Douglas Amster, Howard Richman, UCLA 10-17-79
Two-Piano Improvisation 57:55
Two-Piano Improv #3 Douglas Amster, Howard Richman, UCLA 4-16-80
Two-Piano Improvisation 38:29
Two-Piano Improv #4 Douglas Amster, Howard Richman, UCLA 2-4-81
Two-Piano Improvisation 57:55
Two-Piano Improv #5 Douglas Amster, Howard Richman, UCLA 1981
Two-Piano Improvisation 43:06
