Dana Richardson

Biography

DANA DIMITRI RICHARDSON is a composer and music theorist whose seminal work on the 21st century harmonic system, syntonality, is published online by the Goldberg Stiftung. After earning a Ph.D. in Theory and Composition from New York University in 2001, he taught at Fredonia College and New York University. During 2004-2006 he worked as a securities analyst on Wall Street and is now running his own investment advisory service, Well-Tempered Capital Management, LLC, while maintaining his compositional activity throughout. 2007 Winner John Eaton Memorial Competition, New York Composers Circle. He is also a published poet whose Aphrodite and Other Poems is available on Amazon.com.

Longer bio:

Dana Dimitri Richardson was born in Long Beach California in 1953. His music has been broadcast over more than 70 radio stations in the U.S. and Greece including WNYC and ERT, Athens, where he spent three years teaching music theory. During that period he was interviewed by Bobby Kanas on ERT and became a member of the Greek Composer’s Union. His record released on the Dionysian label in 1987 features The American Chamber Ensemble.

Dana wrote, researched, produced and hosted Modernism In Music, a series of ten 2- hour programs aired on WBAI (NYC) 1990 – 1991. Broadcast of the recordings was interspersed with commentary that investigated the relationship between social, economic and military history, and musical structure in the art music of the twentieth century.  He was the English text editor, and Greek to English translator of the deluxe 158-page program to the world tour of Mikis Theodorakis' Epiphania, Mauthausen and Axion Esti, in September 1993.

After earning a Ph.D. in Theory and Composition from New York University in 2001, he taught at Fredonia College and New York University. Since then he has taught music theory and history at Cooper Union, Nassau Community College, and Kingsborough Community College in Brooklyn.  In August 2007, he delivered a lecture at the Aspen Composer’s Conference on the relationship between syntonality, his original system for musical composition, and his compositional practice and in 2009 his article Syntonality: A new System of Harmony was published in the first issue of the SCI online theory journal. Hard core music theorists can access the monograph here.

In 2008, Richardson's Ballade for piano solo was awarded first prize in the New York Composers Circle Competition. In parallel with his concert music composition, he has written syntonal rock music. The CD, Bonds of Life, featuring his syntonal rock music was released in August 2014.  His music is regularly performed, in New York City, and internationally, including in Perugia, Rome, and Assisi. In 2016 he presented a program completely devoted to his work at Weill Hall.  Dana’s YouTube channel

He has recently finished a novel and is also a published poet whose Aphrodite and Other Poems is available on Amazon.

ACE Publications

74 title(s)
Composer Title SCORING/INSTRUMENTATION Year
Dana Richardson Voyage to Kythera Mixed Chorus and Piano
Dana Richardson Voice of Destiny Piano
Dana Richardson Vistas Piano
Dana Richardson Visions of Earth and Heaven Violin and Cello
Dana Richardson Violin Sonata No. 6 Violin and Piano
Dana Richardson Viola Sonata No. 3 Viola and Piano
Dana Richardson Two Rhapsodies Piano
Dana Richardson Twelve Preludes and Fugues: Volume 4 Piano
Dana Richardson Twelve Preludes and Fugues: Volume 3 Piano
Dana Richardson Twelve Preludes and Fugues: Volume 2 Piano
Dana Richardson Twelve Preludes and Fugues: Volume 1 Piano
Dana Richardson Twelve Preludes and Fugues: Collected Edition Piano
Dana Richardson Trumpet Sonata No. 3 Trumpet and Piano
Dana Richardson Trumpet Sonata No. 2 Trumpet and Piano
Dana Richardson Trumpet Sonata No. 1 Trumpet and Piano
Dana Richardson Trumpet Concerto Trumpet and String Orchestra
Dana Richardson Three Songs Soprano and Piano
Dana Richardson Three Scenes of Perugia Harp and Piano
Dana Richardson Three Rhapsodies Piano
Dana Richardson Three Preludes for Sophia Piano
Dana Richardson Three Odes Soprano and Piano
Dana Richardson Three Ecstasies Piano
Dana Richardson Theme and Variations - for Violin and Piano Violin and Piano
Dana Richardson Theme and Variations - for Flute and Piano Flute and Piano
Dana Richardson Sun Suite Flute, Clarinet, Violin, Cello, Piano, and Percussion

Additional Works