| Country | United States of America |
|---|
| Occupation | Arranger, Composer, Conductor |
|---|
| Categories | Classical, Folk, Neoclassical |
|---|
Dean Rishel, a noted conductor, composer, interpretive coach and teacher in the Philadelphia area, holds degrees from the Westminster Choir College and the College of New Jersey. Mr. Rishel has been a prolific composer since the premiere of his first work, Psalm Cycle, in 1985. Mr. Rishel’s major work, Requiem for the Children, was written in memory of the children who perished in the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing and was premiered by the Greater South Jersey Chorus and the Gloucester City Children’s Choir in May 1996 at the Blockbuster/Sony Music Entertainment center in Camden, New Jersey. The Requiem was presented in three major performances by the Greeley (Colorado) Chorale, as well as a major performance in Oklahoma City in 1998. The Requiem has also been performed in Pensacola, Florida and Ocean City, New Jersey. Many of Mr. Rishel’s compositions have been premiered locally, including Magnificat Leggiero, Some Say, and Take, O Take Those Lips Away. Other commissions include Music, How Can I Keep from Singing, Der Abend, and Twilight at Sea, commissioned by ChildrenSong of NJ. Personent Hodie and The Pillar of Peace were composed for ChildrenSong, and Candlefire for Lauda! Chamber Singers. Mr. Rishel’s works have been published by Shawnee Press, Mark Foster Music, Carl Fischer Music and can be obtained from online at www.deanrishelmusic.com.
Mr. Rishel has served for over nine seasons as Artistic Director of the Greater South Jersey Chorus and brought that organization to regional prominence. He is also in his second season as Artistic Director of the Philadelphia Voices of Pride. He has also been a frequent conductor with the Princeton Opera, having conducted productions of The Magic Flute, Hansel and Gretel, Don Giovanni and The Mikado. He has also served as adjunct professor and director of the Choral Union Chorus of Rowan University and as adjunct professor at LaSalle University, where he taught and directed the LaSalle Singers.
Mr. Rishel currently resides in Philadelphia.
My goals are to create choral music which is artistically effective, reflecting the texts and are at the same gratifying to the singers and audiences alike. They are seldom "simple" works, but neither are they needlessly intricate nor are they written to impress the more academically minded. My choral music is composed and arranged to involve, inspire, challenge, and enrich the lives of the singers and listeners alike.
