Today we’d like to introduce you to Richard Ford.
Hi Richard, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start, maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
I’m a composer, lyricist, author, film and theatre producer, teacher, husband, and father committed to having a world that works for every person. I create projects that are my exploration, my deep dive into what people deal with in life. My work is theatrical, even when it’s music-only. As I continue to evolve as an artist, more and more of my exploration is in the themes I’m confronting rather than the technical aspects of music and theatre.
My inspirations are pretty diverse. I grew up playing jazz and modern concert music, which led really naturally into Bernstein, Sondheim, and Kander and Ebb while continuing to study Stravinsky and other 20th Century titans. When I landed at Playwrights Horizons in New York City, it altered how I saw making theatre. Then about fourteen years ago, I started on a journey that’s altered how I see people and the world. Now I write from the view that we’re all the same and we’re all stuck. How do we all get unstuck?
I live in Houston, which I’ve fallen in love with over the last 11 years. It’s the best combination imaginable of the places I’ve lived and loved, especially Oklahoma and New York City. For me, the people and cultures are unique.
In addition to teaching composition and songwriting, he has created short films with over 50 student filmmakers in programs including under-served neighborhoods and at the Monarch School and Institute while working with Houston Grand Opera’s HGOco and AFA (formerly American Festival for the Arts.)
Recent projects include film scores, forming the Houston Heights Orchestra with conductor Jaemi Loeb, A Thousand Pedals a concerto for amplified/processed flute for Rock Star Flutist Sarah Jane Hargis, an album of jazz/rock instrumentals titled The Globalization of Our Discontent, and collaborations with Houston-based choreographer Rivkah French and composer John Edward Ross, the opening fanfare for the 2012 Vice Presidential Debate, an original score for the Sci-Fi classic Voyage to the Moon, and a set of octets.
My upcoming projects include two large-scale musicals that I’m really excited about. The first piece, called The Boy in the Boat is based on my community and experiences in Hurricane Harvey. It’s both fun and moving, including a tribute to first responders and a surprising love song. The second piece is an exploration of what it is to keep creating work in the face of oppression based on the life of an important person in the former Yugoslavia named Milovan Djilas and features Stalin as a character. Both of these started as grants funded by the City of Houston through the Houston Arts Alliance. I have a number of pieces, including my piano music and my adaptation of several Lawrence Ferlinghetti poems, being recorded this year in addition to my normal commercial projects.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
That’s a funny question! While I definitely have struggled as an artist, mostly of the “is this good enough?” or “why aren’t more people hearing this?” variety, most of where I’ve had ups and downs have been in life like everyone else. Failing health in my late 20’s, divorce, working too many hours for too little money, not getting paid what was agreed, even “I have this amazing kid but I can’t get enough sleep to function!” All the greatest hits!
I discover over and over again that living life is where art comes from. For me, there’s not much to say other than to shine a light on what we all deal with: as a human, how do I go beyond just surviving and create a life where I can really find joy, happiness, and fulfillment. Joy, happiness, and fulfillment weren’t really things available to me earlier in life. Making art in the Pandemic has really driven home for me that I need an audience to tell me if I’m speaking to them, their lives and if it’s making a difference for them. What had me choose this life in the first place was the communion with an audience. There’s not much in life better than leaving a hundred or twelve hundred people in a new place, inspired or moved by what you’ve shared. And sharing has risk to it.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I love the work, the process of creating new work. I’m proud of all the work I’ve done, good and bad, ephemeral and lasting. Having my shows done in an NYC black box or a string quartet performed in a church in Italy are both fantastic. And a lot of my proudest accomplishments really come from the work of other artists that I’ve championed. Some have won big awards and impacting many. I always start with “it’s the playwright, not the play.” As for my work, reviewers have noted me for my magical realism, my “searing comments on society,” and an “acute metaphorical sense,” but in the end, what I want to be known for is leaving people empowered to use their voice to help others. Maybe what sets me apart from many artists is I write from anything is possible.
Before we let you go, we’ve got to ask if you have any advice for those who are just starting out?
If you’re starting out in theatre or music or film, I really wish I’d stuck with the people that believed in me early on and not given up on where we could have gone together. My early collaborators were brilliant, and I thought that I had something to prove on my own that would have been diminished by staying with the same group for my career. Now, I see those people and those times as magical. And figure out what you need to do financially. Whether it’s to keep your expenses minimal or find ways to make a lot of money, just go ahead and have it work. Debt and bills don’t really help any kind of work, and artists don’t have to starve or wreck their life to be great.
Contact Info:
- Email: richard@richardcareyford.com
- Website: http://richardcareyford.com/home
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/richardcareyford
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/richardcareyford
- Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/richardcareyfrd
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCyRzIfJHiZQomZulxflK4ow
Image Credits
Composer portraits by Shannon Langman, Richard Carey Ford
