Richard Webb, lauded by the Bristol Herald-Courier as “a musician foremost,” concert organist, recitalist, lecturer, church musician, clinician/adjudicator and administrator, has performed solo concerts and appeared as guest artist with orchestras and ensembles throughout the United States, England, and Spain. His informative and entertaining workshops and practical master classes in various performance practices have been particularly well received as a complement to his concert appearances. Highly regarded as a facile, sensitive and uniquely synchronous accompanist on all keyboard instruments, he is in significant demand as a collaborative partner for singers and instrumentalists.
"...elevated the marriage of organ and brass to high art." (San Francisco Chronicle)
Milestone appearances have included the Inaugural Recital for the 50th Anniversary Season of the Central New Jersey AGO Chapter, a joint concert with the Echo Ringers of Japan by invitation of the Secretary-General of the United Nations to celebrate the 40th Anniversary of the Declaration of Human Rights and the Inaugural Series for, at the time, the largest concert hall organ in North America at Davies Symphony Hall in San Francisco.
“Particularly outstanding...Richard Webb's virtuoso bash in Julius Reubke's Wagnerian Sonata, the great organ masterpiece of the 19th century for my ear." (San Francisco Chronicle)
His imaginative programing interests have led him to premiere the works of such noted contemporary composers as Daniel Lentz, Lewis Songer, Meyer Kupfermann, John Haussermann, Jan Hanus, Gertrude Martin Rohrer, Robert Copeland, Alvin Batiste, James Hanna, Dennis Johnson, Dinos Constantinides, Charles Lloyd, and William Grimes. He has presented thematic recitals and workshops on the organ music of America, Asia, Russia, and Spain (including a New York recital for the Quincentenary of Christopher Columbus at Saint Thomas Church Fifth Avenue), the organ and choral works of Siegfried Reda, the Church Music Renewal Movement and his passion, the life and works of Sigfrid Karg-Elert. Introduced recently at one of his all Karg-Elert recitals in New York as “an Evangelist for the music of Karg-Elert,” he is a Life Member of the former Karg-Elert Archive in the United Kingdom and was a contributor to its publications.
"The performance of the music of Karg- Elert by Dr. Richard Webb was inspirational. The lecture was excellent and the master class one of the best I have seen." (Rollins College/Central Florida AGO Inaugural Romantic Organ Music Conference)
"This was a most enterprising all-Karg-Elert program on the 151-rank Aeolian- Skinner organ at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York City. In Dick Webb's skilled hands, this historic instrument demonstrated ideally the wide variety of styles comprising Karg-Elert's compositions, while avoiding the obvious. A most appreciative audience heard some important later works, such as Legend, Voices of the Night and Preambulo from Music for Organ. (International Newsletter of the Karg-Elert Archive Issue 75 – January 2014)
"In a balanced, well-constructed program, Dr. Webb delighted the audience with technically brilliant, musically satisfying performances of a wide variety of organ works. A clear aesthetic vision and confident command of both technical and musical demands were evident throughout. His program was a clear indication of his stature both as an artist and educator. The recital he offered was beautifully performed and both the instrument and the audience were very well served by this significant American organist." (Piccolo Spoleto Festival L’Organo, website - review by Roy Stewart)
"Master organist Richard Webb ran the gamut, musically speaking, from the Baroque to the present day. The fact that he is a noted and devoted educator comes through clearly in his programing ...featuring high-quality performances vastly different from each other in style and scope." (The Pacific Grove Monarch)
"His programs are a treat for people who wish to hear the gamut of the organ's effects. More important, however, is his ability to interpret so correctly and compellingly the organ literature from many periods of musical history. Webb's love of music and of performance clearly impress the listener." (Kingsport Times-News)
Dr. Webb is Professor and Dean Emeritus of the College of Arts and Humanities at Southern University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, having served previously as Dean of the College and Chief Academic Officer at Westminster Choir College in Princeton, New Jersey as well as Professor and Chair of the Departments of Music at San Francisco State University and East Tennessee State University. He is a past Dean of the San Francisco, Franklin and Baton Rouge Chapters of the American Guild of Organists, a designee of the Louisiana Artist Roster and a recipient of the coveted Louisiana Artist Fellowship for excellence in the arts, Organist Emeritus at First United Methodist Church of Baton Rouge, LA and Organ/Harpsichord Principal of the Baton Rouge Symphony. He performs as a member of the Louisiana Touring Directory, appears as a collaborative artist and chamber musician under the auspices of Bach's Five Productions, is a featured artist on both www.Organiste.net and The Diapason Artist Spotlights and is pleased to be represented as a concert organist by Concert Artist Cooperative, https://www.concertartistcooperative.com/.
See his video with harpist Rebecca Todaro, playing Variations Pastorales by Marcel Samuel Rousseau.
Mailing Address: 9155 Goodwood Boulevard – Baton Rouge, LA 70815-3140
E-Mail: [email protected] - Cell Phone: (225) 235-6765
Webb-Site: www.richardwebb.org
