Composer and saxophonist Richard Power’s music explores the dialogue between tradition and innovation, the continuum between composition and improvisation, and new types of formal and temporal expression through sound. He writes for both acoustic instruments and electronically generated sounds, and while much of his music is precisely notated, other scores encourage collaborative invention through structured improvisations.
As a performer Richard enjoys placing the baritone saxophone within contexts it is not normally found. For several years he was a member of the Austin-based Cornell Hurd Band, performing for dance and music lovers across Texas. Other groups he has been a member of include the Walter Thompson Orchestra, Third Coast Noise, Coherent, Blue Noise Saxophone Quartet and the Mad Dingo Trio. He has been a promoter of new music by fellow composers as both a performer and concert organizer.
Richard has been the recipient of awards from the American Music Center, ASCAP, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and Austin Peay State University. He earned D.M.A. and Master’s degrees in composition and theory from the University of Illinois, Urbana, and a Bachelor’s degree in composition and performance from Trinity University. During that time he benefited from the compositional mentorship of William Brooks, Thomas Fredrickson, Erik Lund, William Thornton, Frank Ticheli, Scott Wyatt, and Paul Martin Zonn. A native of Austin, Texas, he currently lives in Danville, Kentucky.
