Richard Dowling

Richard Dowling, hailed by The New York Times as "an especially impressive fine pianist, appears regularly across America in solo recitals, at classical chamber music festivals, ragtime & jazz music festivals, and as guest soloist in concerto engagements with symphony orchestras. Career highlights include performances in New York at Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, Steinway Hall, The Rainbow Room at Rockefeller Center, The Metropolitan Club, and the 92nd Street Y. Mr. Dowling has presented solo recitals in the Far East, South America, Australia, Africa, and Europe. He has been a regular featured artist at the Scott Joplin Ragtime Festival in Missouri, the West Coast Ragtime Festival in California, and the Juneau Jazz & Classics Festival in Alaska among others.

The National Federation of Music Clubs honored him with a special award recognizing his outstanding performances of American music. Works of Chopin, Debussy, Gershwin, Gottschalk, Ravel, ragtime, and early jazz figure prominently in his repertoire.

On Saturday, April 1, 2017, Mr. Dowling performed the complete piano works of Scott Joplin in two historic sold-out recitals at Carnegie Hall, exactly 100 years to the day that Joplin died in New York. Dowling is the first pianist in the world to perform the complete cycle of Joplin's 53 rags, marches, waltzes, and cakewalks in public — nearly four hours of music all from memory. Throughout 2017 and 2018 Mr. Dowling will perform 100 Joplin recitals nationwide. Among his many engagements are the Newport Music Festival, Roswell Jazz Festival, Historic Asolo/Ringling Theater, and the Pro Musica concert series in Mexico. Rivermont Records recently released Dowling's new 3-CD set, The Complete Piano Works of Scott Joplin, recorded on a magnificent Hamburg Steinway concert grand piano. Veteran ragtime pianist Max Morath says, "Richard Dowling's mastery of the Joplin rags invokes a tenderness that charms us and a technical command that inspires our admiration."

Reviews praise Mr. Dowling as "a master of creating beautiful sounds with impeccable control of colors and textures," as "a musician with something to say, the skill to say it and the magnetic power to make you want to listen," and for giving "a superb recital that left the audience craving for more at the end." He is a versatile musician with over a dozen CDs of classical, chamber, ragtime, jazz, and popular music. His most recent recordings include Music of Old New York and Gershwin for Two Pianos, an album featuring Rhapsody in Blue and other beloved Gershwin works with virtuoso pianist Frederick Hodges.

Mr. Dowling holds advanced degrees from Yale and the University of Texas, including a doctorate in music. As a sheet music editor for Ludwig/Masters, Alfred, and Hal Leonard music publishing companies he has produced numerous critical performing editions of piano and chamber music by Zez Confrey, Debussy, Fauré, Gershwin, Hummel, Joplin, Mendelssohn, and Ravel. As a Piatigorsky Foundation Artist since 1994 he has performed nearly 1,200 recitals across America. Mr. Dowling resides in New York City and is represented exclusively by Parker Artists, a prominent classical music management in New York. Mr. Dowling is an official Steinway Artist and the proud owner of twin Hamburg Steinway Model C grand pianos. Visit his website at www.richard-dowling.com.

Bio last updated 9/7/2017.