Westenburg Richard
Westenburg Richard
Westenburg Richard American conductor; b. Minneapolis, April 26, 1932. He studied at Lawrence Univ. (B.Mus., 1954) and at the Univ. of Minn. (M.A., 1956); then went to Paris, where he studied with Boulanger and Cochereau (1959-60); subsequently, he did postgraduate work at the Theological Seminary School of Sacred Music in N.Y. (1960-66). From 1956 to 1960 he taught music at the Univ. of Mont.; then served as director of music at the First Unitarian Church in Worcester, Mass. (1960-62). In 1964 he went to N.Y., where he was engaged as organist and choirmaster of the Central Presbyterian Church, holding this position until 1974. In 1968 he founded Musica Sacra and became its music director; he also served as music director of the Collegiate Chorale (1973-79). He was conductor-in-residence at the Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine (1974-86) and music director there (1976-83). He served as head of the choral dept. of the Juilliard School in N.Y. from 1977 to 1989; he was appointed visiting prof, at Rutgers, the State Univ. of N.J., in 1986; he became music director at the Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church in N.Y. in 1990.
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire