Richard Meyer

Richard Meyer received his Bachelor of Arts degree from California State University, Los Angeles and has taught middle school and high school instrumental music for over 16 years. Currently, he directs the orchestras at Oak Avenue Intermediate School in Temple City, California, and is in charge of the city's elementary school string program. Mr. Meyer is in his eleventh year as conductor of the Pasadena Youth Symphony Orchestra, a 90 piece honor orchestra composed of 7th, 8th and 9th grade students, which he has led in concerts in Vienna, Austria, Carnegie Hall, New York City and in Sydney, Australia.

Mr. Meyer has had many works published for band and orchestra including Celebration, which won the National School Orchestra Association composition contest, and Geometric Dances, which won the Texas Orchestra Directors composition contest. In 1994, he received the Outstanding Music Educator Award from the Pasadena Area Youth Music Council, and this year received the Pasadena Arts Council Gold Crown Award for Performing Arts.

In 1994 he was the recipient of the Outstanding Music Educator Award from the Pasadena Area Youth Music Council, and in 1997 received the Pasadena Arts Council Gold Crown Award for performing arts. He lives in Arcadia, California, with his wife and three daughters.

Incantations can be described as energetic and hard-driving. Two solo violins and a solo viola introduce this piece through a haunting, lyrical theme. The theme is subsequently taken up by the entire orchestra. It soon moves into a fast and frenetic second theme that is quite aggressive. This second theme develops into a vigorous pizzicato section. The two themes are then heard at the same time, each competing for attention. This piece is full of a wide variety of colors and interesting tonalities.