BIOGRAPHY

John Richey was born in Wooster, Ohio in 1961. In 1979 he left Antioch College after one semester and devoted his time to painting and sculpting. He moved to New York briefly, then entered the College of Wooster to pursue music. At Wooster he studied composition, classical guitar, piano, literature, and languages. After completing a degree in theory and composition under the guidance of Jack Gallagher, he moved to Bloomington, Indiana to study privately with the composer Donald Erb. He began graduate work at Indiana University, then moved to Ann Arbor and eventually entered the University of Michigan. There he studied composition with William Albright and Leslie Bassett, electronic music with George Wilson, and music theory with Fred Lerdahl.

In 1991 he began doctoral work at the University of Illinois in Urbana. Besides studying composition with Salvatore Martirano and Paul Zonn there, he pursued a minor in comparative literature and taught music theory. After moving to Rochester, New York in 1995, he completed a dissertation on 19th-century harmony, earned a doctorate in composition, and began work in computer music at the Electronic Music Studios at the Eastman School of Music. Since 1998 he has lived in Chicago, where he has been occupied with sound synthesis using Csound, algorithmic composition using Visual Basic, and real-time computer music applications using MAX.

John Richey's compositions have been performed and broadcast throughout the United States and in Europe, Asia, Australia, and South America. He has published essays on the music of Wagner, and contributes reviews to Computer Music Journal.

For much of the past 20 years he has made his living doing graphic, technical, and design work for engineering and architecture firms. Currently he is a designer and technology manager for DLK Architecture in Chicago.