Sid Richardson

Education and Training
PhD and MA, Duke University; MM, The Boston Conservatory; BA, Tufts University.
Awards and Recognition
Hermitage Prize from the Aspen Music Festival and School, 2018
Charles Ives scholarship from The American Academy of Arts and Letters
Elliott Carter Memorial Composition Fellow at the Tanglewood Music Center
Featured Links
WebsiteSid Richardson
Division: College
Department: Composition; Music Theory
Composer Sid Richardson writes concert music that imbues modern idioms with emotional grit and wit. His work explores the intersections of music and literature, drawing inspiration from a wide swath of authors, poets, and playwrights. Richardson leverages pre-existing texts to create a metaphorical resonance with the source material in pieces that weave literary elements into formal, rhythmic, and harmonic structures. He is constantly on the lookout to explore new sound worlds, collaborations, and technologies with his music.
In 2021, Richardson released his debut portrait album, Borne by a Wind, on New Focus Recordings. The record’s cornerstone features Red Wind, a genre-spanning collaboration with poet Nathaniel Mackey and a mixed chamber ensemble of New York-based musicians, and three other chamber works performed by pianist Conrad Tao, violinist Lilit Hartunian, and the Da Capo Chamber Players.
Sid has participated in artist residencies at Crosstown Arts, The Hermitage Artist Retreat, Oberpfalzer Kunstlerhaus, the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts and their satellite campus at Moulin à Nef in Auvillar, France. He was an artist-in-residence at the Longy School of Music of Bard College from 2022-24. As a music educator, he has taught at MIT, Tufts University, and Wellesley College. He is currently a member of the composition faculty at New England Conservatory of Music.
Former faculty at Wellesley College, Tufts University, and MIT.
LUNE for Violin and Fixed Media
Curriculum Vitae
PhD and MA, Duke University; MM, The Boston Conservatory; BA, Tufts University.
- Hermitage Prize from the Aspen Music Festival and School, 2018
- Charles Ives scholarship from The American Academy of Arts and Letters
- Elliott Carter Memorial Composition Fellow at the Tanglewood Music Center
Affiliated Departments and Programs
Composition