Brad Richter: Guitarist & Composer

"Like Franz Liszt with the piano, Brad Richter utilizes techniques of his own invention and brings them into a framework that works so beautifully."
— George Shangrow, KING FM Seattle

"A guitarist who, like Paganini, is known for ignoring the generally accepted limits of his instrument."
— Fred Child, Performance Today

"He brings something innovative to the world of the classical guitar and he does it unpretentiously and with an air of coolness."
— Classical Guitar Magazine

"Richter’s playing is expert. His tone is lovely, his technical command sure."
— American Record Guide

"Music can hardly be refined to a higher standard... A master."
— Akustik Gitarre Magazin, Germany

Brad Richter rethinks what can be accomplished with a guitar. Playing an innovative hybrid of percussive fingerstyle and classical guitar techniques, he has garnered international attention from guitar fanatics and casual listeners alike. His original compositions draw on his life experiences, including his fifteen-plus years teaching on Native American reservations, with works inspired by origin stories from indigenous tribes of the American Southwest, coming-of-age rituals of the Apache, or countless hours spent practicing guitar in the forests of rural Germany. Richter pairs these candid originals with pillars of the classical guitar repertoire—including masterworks by Augustín Barrios, Francisco Tárrega and J.S. Bach—in solo guitar programs that celebrate the joys and challenges of being alive.

Equal parts performer, composer and educator, Richter has amassed nearly 1,000 concert appearances in North America and Europe—more than 50 of which have been broadcast on American Public Media's Performance Today. A winner of the International Composers' Guild Competition, as well as the International Fingerstyle Guitar Championship, Richter's works for solo guitar and guitar in ensemble are performed the world over, with commissions from the Jackson Symphony Orchestra, David Finckel (of Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center), and the National Music Teachers Association.

But equally noteworthy are his contributions as a teacher. Brad Richter is Founder and Executive Director of Lead Guitar, a not-for-profit that establishes permanent guitar programs in schools with at-risk youth. Lead Guitar draws connections between instrumental music study and improved academic performance, discipline and work ethic. The program recently joined forces with University of Arizona, where Richter is Director of Outreach, and now teaches more than three thousand students every year to play classical guitar, with a thirteen year histroy of building guitar programs in challenging school environments. Richter and Lead Guitar have partnered with other high progile organizations, including the Aspen Music Festival and the Boys and Girls Club, to bring music education to communities that need it most.