Hailed by The New York Times as an "especially impressive fine young pianist," Richard Dowling appears regularly across the United States in solo recitals and concerts with orchestras. He has been acclaimed by audiences for his elegant and exciting style of playing which earns him frequent return engagements. A young artist of rising international stature, Mr. Dowling has presented solo recitals in China, Australia, and South Africa, and just completed his fifth recital tour in France. In the United States he has received nationwide attention for recitals seen on the PBS television program Debut, and heard on the NPR radio program Performance Today.
A competition veteran and frequent prize-winner, Mr. Dowling has won first place in the San Antonio International Keyboard Competition, the New Orleans International Piano Competition, the Louise D. McMahon International Music Competition, the Oklahoma Symphony Concerto Competition, the Shreveport Symphony Concerto Competition, the Midland/Odessa National Young Artist Audition, and the Brazos Valley Symphony Young Artists Competition among others, and was declared National Winner of the prestigious Music Teachers National Association Collegiate Artist Competition.
Highlights of his successes include his sold-out New York orchestral debut at Lincoln Center's Alice Tully Hall and a special award from the National Federation of Music Clubs recognizing his outstanding performances of American music. In 1994, Mr. Dowling received the Grand Prix from the French Piano Institute in Paris and made his formal recital debut there at the Salle Cortot. Shortly thereafter, he appeared at the French Embassy in Washington, DC where he presented a recital of French music. During the 1997-98 season his major engagements include recitals at Carnegie's Weill Hall in New York, at Victoria Memorial Concert Hall in Singapore, and aboard the Queen Elizabeth II cruise ship. Dowling also appears regularly throughout the United States with cellist Evan Drachman in recitals sponsored by The Piatigorsky Foundation.
Recently, Dowling completed a highly successful concert tour of China, where he appeared as one of only two Americans chosen to perform before massive audiences in Shanghai and Nanjing. This past summer his travels took him again to France where he gave solo recitals at Château de Sabazan, Château de Blanin, and Château de St. Lary in Gascony and at The Ritz Hotel in Paris. Following these performances, Mr. Dowling was officially inducted into the renowned Company of Musketeers of Armagnac (founded in the 16th century by D'Artagnan in the Southwest of France) in recognition of his dedication to French musical art.
While studying at Yale University, Dowling was honored with the Lockwood Award for performing the best recital and the Simonds Award for outstanding solo and ensemble playing. His teachers included Abbey Simon, Ruth Tomfohrde, and Claude Frank. He holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in piano performance from The University of Texas, and has also studied at Le Conservatoire de Musique in Nice, France. He has held positions as Artist-in-Residence at Lamar University in Texas and at The Harid Conservatory of Music in Boca Raton, Florida and has given master classes at music schools in Hong Kong and Singapore.
Mr. Dowling has recorded a compact disc of music by Frederic Chopin and is also planning to release a two-CD set of the complete solo piano works of Maurice Ravel. Mr. Dowling resides in New York and Singapore.
Mr. Dowling is a Baldwin Artist.
REVIEWS
"Richard Dowling is an especially impressive, fine young pianist." --The New York Times
"Dazzling technical equipment is obviously still a marked requirement of the American school of piano-playing, judging by the playing of Richard Dowling...discriminating artistry...Liszt that had the authentic sparkle and wit." --The Pretoria News (South Africa)
"Here, clearly, is a pianist of high ideals as he approached every work on the programme with utmost attention to detail in balance, phrasing and pedalling. More importantly, his efficient technique was unfailingly musical and even the most daunting technical passages were transformed into objects of beauty. Dowling had something personal to say and impressed with impeccable control of colours and textures...he received a standing ovation and left the audience craving for more at the end." --The Singapore Business Times
"Dowling has real talent and substance, a musician with something to say, the skill to say it and the magnetic power to make you want to listen. Dowling's performance of Ravel's La Valse was at once a stunning display of pianism and an interpretive tour de force. It wasn't just music--it was theater, story-telling of the best sort." --The San Antonio Express-News
"Dowling's style was sensuous, with finely-etched clarity and a silvery, seductively beautiful tone. Emotionally involving...extravagantly expressive interpretation...played with a convincing blend of poignancy and conviction." --The San Antonio Light
"Dowling's pyrotechnics ran the gamut from studied elegance and authoritative shyness to almost personal reverie...his tender performance was a moving tribute masterfully done." --The Laredo Morning Times
"Dowling gave a high-voltage recital and obviously has technique to spare; even at whirlwind tempos, his playing was quite clean. He also has a knack for dramatic underlining and Lisztian forcefulness...admirable taste, shaded with an idiomatic sense of rubato." --The Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel
"Unusual, star-quality talent...big, physically strong technique...dramatic, adventuresome" --The Houston Chronicle
"Technically clean, tonally pleasant, and well-prepared." --The Houston Post
"Youthful exuberance...he simply wants to perform!" --The Beaumont Enterprise
"The assurance with which he strode onto stage carried through his entire performance. Dowling excelled whether in bravura passages or the rhapsodic romantic style of Rachmaninoff. His musicianship was displayed in subtle touches and adept spacing." --The Bryan (Texas) Eagle
"His stunning performance of Liszt's Concerto brought him a well-earned standing ovation." --The Midland (Texas) Reporter-Telegram
REPERTOIRE HIGHLIGHTS
Scarlatti: 12 Sonatas
Mozart and Beethoven: Major Sonatas
Chopin: Four Scherzi, B Minor Sonata, Etudes Opus 25, Barcarolle, "La ci darem la mano" Variations
Mendelssohn: Selected Favorite Compositions
Ravel: Complete Works for Solo Piano
American Works by Robert Muczynski, Norman Dello Joio, Samuel Barber, Paul Creston, Lowell Liebermann, David White, & Stephen Dankner
Piano Concertos by Mozart, Beethoven, Chopin, Liszt, Grieg, Rachmaninoff, Ravel, Saint-Saëns, Tchaikovsky, Prokofieff, & Gershwin
New Edition of Ravel's Trio for Piano, Violin, and Cello edited by Richard Dowling
© 1997 rwdowling@aol.com
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