RICHARD B. EVANS is a multi-faceted composer with a long and richly varied career that includes touring as a concert pianist & lecturer and teaching as a university professor, as well as his accomplishments as a published author, professional accompanist, recording artist, organist, inventor, and jazz pianist.
Evans has received numerous awards, grants and commissions from organizations as diverse as the Rockefeller Foundation, the Board of Trustees of the California State University System and the Irish Government. He concertized widely in the U.S. and Europe before devoting himself entirely to composing. Evans’ musicals include THE PRICE OF EVERYTHING, A Musical Vaudeville; ENCHANTED APRIL, A Lyrical New Musical; THE PLAYBOY OF BALYDUFF, An Irish Musical Comedy; MIDLIFE! The User’s Guide; and THE GOLDEN TOUCH (commissioned by the International Institute of Vocal Arts). Evans has also composed MIDAS AND MARIGOLD, A Family Opera and DUBLIN 1916, An Irish Oratorio, as well as numerous art songs, chamber works, and choral works that are performed widely.
Evans (under the name Richard Bunger) authored the book The Well-Prepared Piano, the authoritative source for John Cage's controversial multi-timbral piano invention.
EVANS' MUSICAL THEATRE works include -
The Price of Everything -
A Musical Vaudeville
What could possibly be more timely during the world-wide recession of the early 21st Century than to revisit the Robber Barons of New York City's high society of the early 20th Century?
This high-class musical romp stars the famed socio-economist Thorstein Veblen (1857-1929) and his controversial thesis, "The Theory of the Leisure Class" (ever heard the phrase "Conspicuous Consumption"?). Find out how much fun a rotten economy can be when Wall Street battles Main Street!
Book and lyrics by Kleban award-winning Charles Leipart, Music by Richard B. Evans.
Enchanted April -
A Lyrical New Musical
Elizabeth von Arnim's wonderful story ENCHANTED APRIL is now a fabulous new musical with a musical score, book and lyrics that are intensely personal, gloriously romantic, and a thorough delight for all those who love beautiful singing, soaring melodies, drama, humor — happy endings…and wisteria and sunshine!
Music by Richard B. Evans, book and lyrics by Kleban award-winning Charles Leipart.
The Playboy of Balyduff -
An Irish Musical Comedy
When a mysterious stranger wanders into Balyduff, the quiet, predictable life of this remote Irish village is suddenly turned upside down. Pegeen, a young woman who longs for adventure, falls in love with this handsome stranger. And when he confesses that he is on the run because he has murdered his father, all the villagers imagine him as a hero and celebrity . . . until his father turns up quite alive! Irish comedy, Irish dancing and Irish music meet Broadway!
Based on the renowned Irish comedy, The Playboy of the Western World, by John Millington Synge.
Music by Richard B. Evans, Lyrics by Kate Hancock, Book by Hancock and Evans.
Other works include the genres of -
OPERA & ORATORIO,
ART SONGS,
CELTIC MUSIC, 
EXPERIMENTAL MUSIC, PREPARED PIANO, JOHN CAGE
In New York City, Evans’ compositions have been performed in venues from LaMaMa to Carnegie Hall, as well as The Broadway Theatre Institute, The Provincetown Playhouse, The Donnell Theatre of the New York Public Library, the York Theatre, the Irish Arts Center, the Manhattan Theatre Club, the BMI Musical Theatre Workshop, and the Theatre at Riverside Church.
Evans and his music have also been heard throughout North America in concerts from San Diego to Toronto, from Oregon to Florida; and in England, Ireland, Scotland, Italy, France, Norway, Germany, Czech Republic, Russia, Cuba, and Greece. Evans' choral setting of the "PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE " has been performed by the combined Choir and Concert Band of the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis.
