Dr. Richard E. Roberson

Pianist and composer Richard Roberson has served as a member of the Messiah faculty for over forty years, including twenty years as dean of the School of the Arts, where he gave leadership to the Departments of Art and Design, Music, and Theatre and Dance. Under his leadership the School of the Arts increased enrollment, and developed successful new programs in Studio Art, Music Performance, Musical Theatre, Dance, Digital Media, and a master’s degree in Conducting. He also participated in the development of the High Center for Worship and Performing Arts, which houses five performance venues, including Parmer Hall, and extensive galleries for the visual arts. Though now retired from full-time work, he continues to teach piano and composition on a limited basis. As a pianist he has performed throughout the United States, and in Canada and Europe, both as a soloist and a collaborative artist. His compositions include the song cycle “Triptych,” “Suite for Clarinet,” “Fanfare for an Uncommon President” and the choral works “And the Word” and “Star in the East.” More recent works include the Piano Trio, a work in progress, and Psalm 19, a work for chorus and orchestra written to celebrate Messiah becoming Messiah University. He is a graduate of the schools of music of Indiana University and the University of North Texas, where his principal teachers included Hans Graf, Walter Robert, Larry Walz and Bernhard Heiden.

• Piano
• Electronic Music
• Music Theory
• Keyboard
• Music Theater
• Composition