Richard Fleischman

Born in Flushing, Queens, New York City, Fleischman grew up in Manalapan, New Jersey, beginning violin studies at the age of 9 and switching to viola at age 12. By the age of 15 he had already composed two operas and assorted works for string quartet and orchestra. He attended Manalapan High School. At age 16, he was accepted at The Juilliard School Pre-College Division, where he studied viola with Eugene Becker and chamber music with flutist Julius Baker and legendary cellist Leonard Rose. After receiving his pre-college diploma, he went on to study on scholarship in the college division of The Juilliard School, receiving the Bachelor of Music and Master of Music Degrees in a total of four years. While at The Juilliard School, he served as principal violist of the Juilliard Philharmonia, the Juilliard Chamber Orchestra, the Juilliard Symphony and the Juilliard Orchestra. At Juilliard, he studied viola with William Lincer, long-time principal violist of the New York Philharmonic and was his teaching assistant during 1984–85. He also studied chamber music with the Juilliard String Quartet and composition with Vincent Persichetti. At commencement, he was awarded the Eduard Steuermann Memorial Prize by the Juilliard faculty. After graduation from The Juilliard School with his B.M.and M.M., he was invited by legendary violist Joseph de Pasquale (1919–2015), then principal of the Philadelphia Orchestra, to study at the Curtis Institute of Music, where he also studied chamber music repertoire with Felix Galimir. ==Conducting==

It was at the Curtis Institute that he met and studied conducting with Max Rudolf, followed by study in Germany with Sergiu Celibidache. He began his conducting career with ensembles such as the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia and as conductor of the San Francisco Concerto Orchestra in the early 1990s. He conducted a gala baroque concert in 1994 with members of the San Francisco Symphony and singers from the San Francisco Opera. In 2003, he conducted The Santa Fe Virtuosi (members of the Santa Fe Opera Orchestra) in a special tribute memorial concert to its founder, John Crosby, performing Richard Strauss' "Metamorphosen." He was music director of the Renaissance Chamber Orchestra in a series of critically acclaimed performances from 2004 to 2005. ==Solo and chamber music career==

As viola soloist, Fleischman has performed throughout the United States and Europe. The Delray String Quartet gave the world premiere of Kenneth Fuchs String Quartet no 5 (commissioned) in January 2012, recorded the work for Naxos Records the same month and was released in April 2013. In December 2011, Poinciana Records released "The Delray String Quartet: 2011 Hit Movements/Live performances." In 2014, a new release from Centaur Records featured the Delrays in works of Mahler, Glazunov and Franck. The Delrays commissioned American composer Richard Danielpour to compose his Seventh String Quartet "Songs of Solace." The work was given its world premiere in May 2015 and was recorded the same month for Naxos Records along with the composer's 5th and 6th Quartets. The recording was released in 2018. Fleischman was instrumental in securing the commissions of both the Fuchs and Danielpour works. ==Orchestral career==

He was a member of the San Francisco Symphony under the baton of Herbert Blomstedt (1990–1995) During this period, he recorded 20 CDs for London/Decca, including the Complete Symphonies of Jean Sibelius, works of Richard Strauss, Mahler, Beethoven, Bartok, Berwald, Hindemith, Brahms, Orff and Mendelssohn Since 1990, Fleischman has been principal violist of the Santa Fe Opera Orchestra for 22 seasons, playing many of the great viola solos of the opera repertoire, such as Britten's Peter Grimes, Berg's Wozzeck and Strauss' Arabella. Early in his career, he performed with the Philadelphia Orchestra and was principal violist in orchestras under such conductors as Sergiu Celibidache, Leonard Bernstein and Christoph Eschenbach at the Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival. Other ensembles in which he performed as Principal violist include The Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia, the Hamilton Philharmonic, the California Symphony, The National Repertory Orchestra, The Florida Grand Opera, The Miami City Ballet,(performing the solos in Coppelia, Giselle and Romeo and Juliet), The Florida Philharmonic, The Boca Raton Symphonia and the New Century Chamber Orchestra (a founding member). ==Teaching==

Fleischman has been the Professor of Viola at New World School of the Arts in Miami, Florida since 1996. His prize-winning viola and chamber music students have gone on to perform in orchestras such as the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Shanghai Symphony Orchestra, San Diego Symphony, Saint Louis Symphony, Orlando Philharmonic, Chicago Civic Orchestra and YouTube Symphony Orchestra and as soloist with the New World Symphony, Hong Kong Festival Orchestra, Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia, Russian National Orchestra and the Ars Flores Orchestra. Fleischman has given masterclasses around the world in universities and music conservatories, and frequently adjudicates in competitions. ==Recordings and video==

He has recorded for Naxos, Centaur, London/Decca, Sony and Poinciana labels. ==References==