First Presbyterian is excited to introduce our new Director of Music, Frank Richmond!
Frank joins us with an impressive resume that includes a degree in music from Yale University and a Master's in piano performance from the University of Louisville. He has spent his extensive career touring and teaching and has served as a Music Director for a professional vaudeville and melodrama company in CA, taught drama, English literature and music at an international school in Ecuador, and conducted the Symphony Orchestra of Guayaquil in Ecuador. He also toured internationally as a concert pianist and has received multiple grants from groups to compose major works, including choral, instrumental and operatic music. His works have been performed on radio by Metropolitan Opera stars and Grammy award winners, as well as at the Kentucky Center for the Arts. Additionally, Frank's vast repertoire includes touring as a keyboardist for the Motown group, The Platters, performing rock, folk and Native American music, and composing three rap numbers for one of his operas. His past jobs have also included singing for a telegram company and working as an actor, journalist and a construction worker. Frank is also a visual artist and paints murals and portraits for commissions, as well as other art projects. He is blessed with five children, a stepson and a grandson. Having worked in education for decades, he now works for Jefferson County Public Schools as an emergency substitute teacher. We are blessed to welcome Frank to our church staff! Music involves the direct practice of appreciation, the prerequisite for praising God. How can we praise what we don’t even notice and appreciate, much less love? In the mystery of invisible, ephemeral patterns of vibrations we can rest in our true selves as infinite souls, children of God. - Frank Richmond