Richard Riley

Richard Riley is the Artistic Director of both the Burlington Choral Society and Onion River Chorus. Since moving to East Montpelier in 2012 he has conducted over 200 works, including iconic masterpieces such as Bach’s “Christmas Oratorio,” Handel’s “Saul,” and Beethoven’s ”Choral Fantasy,” to works from South America, the three Baltic countries, and Ukraine. He has also led world premiere performances of music by Don Jamison, Michael Schachter, and Lembit Beecher.

Riley received degrees in the performance of early music from the New England Conservatory, and choral conducting from the Peabody Institute. A bass and countertenor soloist in Boston, Baltimore, and Ashland, OR in the 1970s and 80s, Riley’s singing career ended after a bout with pneumonia paralyzed one of his vocal cords.

A native of Baltimore, Riley nevertheless had the good sense to marry Vermont artist Susan Bull Riley in 1979, and has kept Vermont in his life ever since.