Richard Sherman

ABOUT

Richard Sherman is professor of flute at the Michigan State University College of Music.

Active as a soloist, orchestral musician, and recitalist, Sherman is a dynamic performer of outstanding dramatic power. He is principal flute with the Chautauqua (New York) Symphony Orchestra, the International Chamber Orchestra of Puerto Rico, the Lansing Symphony Orchestra, and the Jackson Symphony Orchestra, and former principal flute with the Rochester (New York) Philharmonic Orchestra. He has given performances with the Chicago Symphony, the English Chamber Orchestra, the Detroit Symphony, and the Toronto Symphony. His work as a soloist includes the Columbus Symphony, the Rochester Philharmonic, Youngstown Symphony, Lansing Symphony, and Chautauqua Symphony, among many others.

Sherman was the recipient of an ITT International Fellowship for study at the Royal College of Music in London and received the Henri Cohn Memorial Prize at Tanglewood for most outstanding fellowship student. As an educator, he oversees a vibrant flute studio at Michigan State University while also giving master classes throughout the country, including the Eastman School of Music, Northwestern University, Louisiana State University, Ohio State University, Arizona State University, Brigham Young University, and University of Michigan, among others. In 2020, he was presented with the William J. Beal Outstanding Faculty Award, honored for a comprehensive and sustained record of excellence in creative activities, instruction and outreach. The award was highlighted in an article in The Chautauqua Daily. He previously received, as voted by his peers, the Excellence in Teaching Award, funded by the Dortha J. and John D. Withrow Endowed Fund for Excellence in Teaching.

Internationally, Sherman has given master classes and recitals in Australia, Brazil, Taiwan, Uzbekistan, Ireland, and Puerto Rico. He also leads a Michigan State University study abroad course in Ireland at the Royal Irish Academy of Music in Dublin which has proven a transformative experience not only for flute students but other student musicians as well. In summers he serves as Head of Winds, Brass, and Percussion at the Chautauqua School of Music. In the Lansing area, Sherman is the founding artistic director of the Absolute Music Chamber Series in Old Town, a nonprofit organization which presents eclectic interactive outreach concerts. He is also the artistic director of the Lansing Symphony Chamber Series under the auspices of the Lansing Symphony Orchestra.

Sherman’s recordings with pianist Ralph Votapek, Flute Sonatas and American Landscape, are released on Summit Records. He has released three recordings on the Blue Griffin label with a fourth on the way. The French Album, with pianist Kimberly Schmidt, was released in 2006 to critical acclaim. Fanfare’s Jerry Dubin writes: “I cannot imagine any of this music being more beautifully or lovingly played than it is here…” Sherman’s French Album II: Homage to Pedagogy, with Votapek, was released in 2012, and French Album III: Bucoliques, with pianist Minsoo Sohn, was released in 2015. Music of the British Isles, with pianist Genadi Zagor, was released in summer 2019. Of Sherman, Fanfare’s Jim Svejda writes: “On the evidence of this album of British flute music, he is both a subtle, imaginative, technically flawless flutist and—even more to the point—a first-rate musician.”