Richard (Dick) Pittman was Music Director of The Concord Orchestra for fifty years, from the fall of 1969 until March 2020. He programmed a wide range of works, from Baroque to contemporary, including premieres and commissioned works, concert operas, Pops, and family programs, and led the orchestra on a tour of central Europe in 1998. The American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) conferred an award on the orchestra in 1986 for “its adventurous programming of contemporary music composed since 1945.”

Dick started his music career at the Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore, was a trombonist in the US Army Field Band, pursued graduate studies at the Staatliche Hochschule für Musik in Hamburg, Germany, and was a member of the National Symphony Orchestra in Washington DC. His conducting teachers include Laszlo Halasz, Sergiu Celibidache, Wilhelm Brueckner-Rueggeberg, Pierre Boulez, and Walter Susskind. 

While studying in Germany on a Fulbright scholarship in the 1960s, Dick met Lore Buchtemann who encouraged and challenged him to speak German with her. They later married and Lore attended virtually all Dick’s concerts before she died in 2018. Lore worked at Boston University for over 25 years and supported Dick's conducting career and musical organizations, assisting him in every conceivable way.  She was equally helpful with her son Robert Harding Pittman and his work as a photographer and filmmaker, serving as his photo editor and artistic advisor. Germany and the German language were important to Dick and the entire family spent summers visiting Lore’s relatives in Germany.

The same year Dick joined The Concord Orchestra, he also founded Boston Musica Viva and was its Music Director for fifty years, leading it to international distinction as one of the best new music ensembles in the world. He made eight European and three California tours with BMV and conducted it at many international festivals and at Tanglewood. 

In addition to The Concord Orchestra, Dick was the Music Director of the New England Philharmonic from 1997 to 2020, during which time the orchestra won five ASCAP Awards for Adventurous Programming. He is now Music Director Emeritus of that orchestra.

Dick taught conducting and opera and was the founder-director of the Eastman Musica Nova at the Eastman School of Music from 1965-1968. He then taught conducting at New England Conservatory from 1968-1984. One of his conducting students at NEC was Thomas Wilkins, now the Germeshausen Youth and Family Concert Conductor of the Boston Symphony. Dick was featured as an educator and mentor to Tom in the PBS documentary “Beyond the Baton: A Conductor’s Journey.” 

Dick has been a frequent guest conductor with many symphony orchestras such as the BBC, Hamburg, and Dublin, opera companies such as the Kirov, American Repertory Theatre, Boston Lyric Opera, Banff Arts Festival, and dance companies such as Erick Hawkins and the Dutch Ballet Orchestra. He has made 28 recordings with Boston Musica Viva and the City of London Sinfonia for Nonesuch, Delos, Newport Classic, CRI, Neuma, Albany, and Columbia Nippon.

Dick received the Distinguished Alumnus Award from the Peabody Conservatory in 1996, the Laurel Leaf Award from the American Composers Alliance for the fostering and nurturing of American music (with Boston Musica Viva), and an Honorary Doctorate from the Boston Conservatory for his outstanding contributions as a conductor. 

Under Dick’s direction, the Concord Orchestra commissioned works from Joyce Mekeel, John Huggler, Michael Gandolfi, Andy Vores, and Bernard Hoffer. Bernie Hoffer was a longtime friend of Dick’s from the US Army Field Band; he wrote numerous compositions and arrangements for Dick and gave them to orchestra. Other special projects included the Robert Simpson Symphony No. 5, the Ferruccio Busoni Piano Concerto, and Bela Bartók’s Bluebeard’s Castle. 

Dick’s artistic leadership provided tremendous growth for the orchestra, and his high standards continuously raised the level of performances. Since 1969, Dick programmed and conducted nearly 250 different programs involving over 700 compositions and 19 world premieres. He encouraged both musicians and audiences to open their ears and explore unfamiliar and new music.

Dick’s energy and enthusiasm, and attention to detail gave him the ability to bring out the best in the Concord Orchestra. He motivated and inspired many members over the years to become better musicians and performers. As we create a new chapter for the Concord Orchestra, we bring along Dick’s high standards, passion for music, and enthusiasm for adventurous programming.

Visit Richard Pittman’s website.