John W. Richmond, Ph.D.

John W. Richmond is a tenured Professor in the School of Music of the Hixson-Lied College of Fine and Performing Arts at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, where he is serving in his second 5-year term as the Director of the School of Music.  Since coming to UNL in 2003, Dr. Richmond has guided the School of Music in the development of a strategic plan, the successful completion of an Academic Program Review, the successful completion of a reaccreditation application to the National Association of Schools of Music, the successful application for initial accreditation from the National Association of Schools of Dance, the creation of new MM and DMA degree programs in Jazz Studies, the creation of a new Ph.D. degree in Music, the conversion of three contingent faculty positions (voice, saxophone, and choral conducting) to tenure-earning positions, the conversion of a GTA appointment to a contingent faculty appointment (Assistant Professor of Practice in Music Education), the creation of a new string quartet residency, the recruitment of the Chiara String Quartet (www.chiaraquartet.net) to occupy that residency, the creation of a new tenure-earning faculty position in digital arts/composition for media, the upgrading of technology resources for faculty and students, and the completion of 19 faculty searches.

Prior to this appointment, Dr. Richmond served as a Professor and in various administrative capacities in the School of Music at the University of South Florida, Tampa.  There, he taught undergraduate and graduate courses in choral music education, choral conducting, arts education administration, and philosophy.  He earned a bachelor’s degree (summa cum laude) in music education from William Jewell College, a master’s degree in conducting from the Conservatory of Music at the University of Missouri at Kansas City, and a Ph.D. degree in music education from Northwestern University.  In addition, he studied conducting and music education in Austria at the Vienna International Music Center and the Orff Schulwerk Institute (Salzburg).

Dr. Richmond’s research focuses on arts education policy, legal issues in arts education, and the philosophy of music education.  He is published in such respected journals as the Journal of Research in Music Education, Research Perspectives in Music Education, Arts Education Policy Review (and its earlier incarnation – Design for Arts in Education), the International Journal of Music Education, the Journal of Aesthetic Education (Editorial Consultant, 1996-present), and the Choral Journal, as well as a number of research monographs, including On the Nature of the Musical Experience.  He is a Founding Director of the Suncoast Music Education Forum, the founding Editor of the Florida Choral News, and served as the Conference Director for the 1994 World Conference of the International Society for Music Education (ISME).  Dr. Richmond edited of the Policy/Philosophy Research Section of the second edition of the New Handbook of Research in Music Teaching and Learning (Oxford University Press, 2002), and also wrote the chapter on “Law Research and Music Education.”  He recently completed four biographical entries and an institutional article for the new AmeriGrove Project, a chapter on "The Sociology and Policy of Ensembles" for the new Oxford Music Education Handbook, Vol. 1, edited by Gary E. McPherson and Graham F. Welch (New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2012), and a chapter for an upcoming anthology entitled, Composing Our Future: Preparing Music Educators to Teach Composition, also for Oxford University Press and edited by Michele Kaschub and Janice Smith. Dr. Richmond is serving a three-year term on the Editorial Board of Arts Education Policy Review (January 2013-December 2015).

Dr. Richmond has appeared across North America, Europe, Africa, and Asia as a guest conductor, speaker, clinician, consultant, and soloist.  Recent speaking engagements include the 2004, 2006, 2008, 2010, and 2012 Conventions of the National Association of Schools of Music (NASM), the 2006, 2008, and 2010 ISME World Conferences (Kuala Lumpur, Bologna, and Beijing respectively), the 2007 World Conference of the College Music Society in Bangkok, Thailand, the 2010 25^th Anniversary Conference of the Center for the Study of Education and the Musical Experience (Northwestern University), and the 2010 Mayday Conference on Music Education and Professional Ethics (Montclair State University).  Dr. Richmond was elected to the NASM Commission on Accreditation in November 2008 and re-elected to a second term in November 2011.