Richard Skirpan is Visiting Instructor and Interim Director of Choirs at Towson University, where he conducts the Towson University Chorale, Treble and Men’s Choirs, and teaches choral conducting. Most recently, Dr. Skirpan led the University of Miami Maelstrom Men’s Chorus and taught courses in conducting at the University of Miami and Nova Southeastern University. For three seasons, he was associate conductor of the Master Chorale of South Florida, conducting or assisting in the preparation of choral-orchestral masterworks performed with the New World Symphony, Russian National Orchestra, Miami Symphony and Boca Raton Symphonia.

Previously, he was Director of Choral Music at Calvert Hall College High School in Baltimore where he conducted three men’s choirs, taught classes in musicianship and music history, and was music director and conductor for musical theater productions. For four years, Dr. Skirpan was on the artistic faculty of the New York State Summer School of the Arts School of Choral Studies, a program for auditioned high school vocalists from across New York State, held on the campus of SUNY Fredonia. Dr. Skirpan has also been Choirmaster of the Nativity Choir, a professional mixed choir with an emphasis on Gregorian chant and Renaissance polyphony at the Church of the Nativity in Timonium, MD, where he now directs the Nativity Chant Schola.

Dr. Skirpan is a graduate of the University of Miami Frost School of Music, studying with Joshua Habermann and earning his Doctor of Musical Arts degree in choral conducting. His doctoral essay on The Choral Music of Joseph Willcox Jenkins was supervised by Donald Oglesby. Dr. Skirpan earned the Master of Music degree in music theory and Bachelor of Music degree in music technology and composition at the Duquesne University Mary Pappert School of Music, where he studied conducting with Brady Allred and served as assistant conductor of the Duquesne University Chamber Singers and Concert Choir, and the Bach Choir of Pittsburgh. He was a recipient of the Philip H. Inman Excellence in Choral Conducting Arts Scholarship from the Beaver Valley (PA) Choral Society. As an undergraduate student, he guest conducted the Duquesne Contemporary Ensemble in the premiere of his own one-act opera, The Masque of the Red Death, based on the short story by Edgar Allan Poe.

Dr. Skirpan is married to his college choir sweetheart, Diane.

Office: CA 2099
Phone: 410-704-2825
email: rskirpan@towson.edu