Biography
Richard Marvin Winchell was born on January 23, 1935 in Rochester, NY. He grew up and was schooled in his hometown. His mother was a teacher, and he felt this educational influence early on. Music also played a key role during his childhood through piano lessons and singing in the local church choir. For a brief time he studied at the Eastman School of Music too.
In 1953, Richard graduated from Monroe High School and studied industrial chemistry at RIT. His interest in music was cultivated through continued musical studies and performing in local theater productions. His employment history was diverse – selling cars, selling cookware door-to-door and working as a chemist at Kodak. In 1958, he enlisted in the army and attended West Point to be a medic. While there, he studied piano with a then unknown instructor named Gary Wolf.
By 1960, the Winchell family had relocated to Florida. Richard soon followed after finishing his Army service. Then he enrolled in the Music School at Florida State University. He graduated with a B.A. in Composition in 1965. A year later, he married Julianna Adams, a fellow FSU music school alumnus.
That same year, he enrolled in FSU’s Graduate School of Music and earned an M.A. in Composition by 1968. Then Richard settled down in Georgia for several years, running two church music programs there. After the birth of their first two children, the family returned to Tallahassee, FL and ran another church music program for almost 7 years. After his last child was born in 1981, Richard earned a Doctorate in Music at Florida State the following year. His specialties included piano, performance and voice.
The family then relocated to Winter Park, FL for a new church music program in 1983. Richard stayed for 3 years and taught adjunct at the University of Central Florida, as well.
His last move was to Cape Cod in 1986, where he has run music programs in 2 different churches over the last 25 years. Richard lives in Dennis, MA and is well-known on the Cape for directing the Main Street Music Society, performing various vocal, instrumental and chamber works. He has also conducted major orchestral pieces like the Mozart, Brahms and Faure Requiems.
Dr. Richard Winchell is a published composer. His music has been performed by the Chatham Chorale and the Cape Cod Symphony. Additionally, his works have been performed at the National Cathedral in Washington, DC and by the Atlanta Brass Ensemble.
He is currently the music director at St. Christopher’s Episcopal Church in Chatham, MA.