OUR DIRECTOR

Richard Riley has been artistic director of the Burlington Choral Society since 2012. Though a native of Baltimore, Riley had the good sense to marry Vermont artist Susan Bull Riley back in 1979, and has kept Vermont in his life ever since. A guest conductor with the Onion River Chorus, Capital City Concerts, and Montpelier Chamber Orchestra, among others, he has also served as music director at the Unitarian Church of Montpelier. 

 From 1997-2006 he was on the performance faculty at Cornell University where, as director of the Cornell Chorale and the Sage Chapel Choir, he conducted performances of over 200 works, including large works by Bernstein, Britten, Orff, Stravinsky, Dello Joio, Beethoven, Mozart, Haydn, Handel, Bach and Purcell, as well as premiere performances of works by twelve Cornell composers. 

Riley received his bachelor’s degree in the performance of early music from the New England Conservatory and his master’s degree in choral conducting from the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University. A professional singer with groups such as the Boston Camerata in the 1970s, Riley’s singing career ended after a bout with pneumonia paralyzed one of his vocal cords; he developed a parallel career as an arts administrator, previously serving as director of the Brattleboro Music Center, Cornell Concert Series, Powers Music School and Music in Deerfield.