Hailed by The New York Times as “an especially impressive fine pianist,” Richard Dowling appears regularly across America in solo recitals, at chamber music festivals, ragtime/jazz music festivals, and as guest soloist in concerto engagements with symphony orchestras. Career highlights include performances in New York at Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, Steinway Hall, Merkin Hall, The Rainbow Room at Rockefeller Center, The Metropolitan Club, The Union Club, Feinstein’s/54 Below, and the 92nd Street Y. He has been a headliner artist at music festivals nationwide including the Scott Joplin Ragtime Festival, West Coast Ragtime Festival, Texas Music Festival, Northwest Bach Festival, El Paso Chopin Festival, Roswell Jazz Festival, Juneau Jazz & Classics Festival, Sitka Summer Music Festival, San Miguel Chamber Music Festival, and the Newport Music Festival. The National Federation of Music Clubs honored him with a special award recognizing his outstanding performances of American music. Works of Chopin, Debussy, Gershwin, Gottschalk, Joplin, Ravel, ragtime, and early jazz figure prominently in his extensive repertoire.

On April 1, 2017 Mr. Dowling performed the complete piano works of Scott Joplin in two historic sold-out recitals at Carnegie Hall, exactly 100 years to the day that Joplin died in New York. He is the first pianist in the world to perform the complete cycle of Joplin’s 53 rags, marches, waltzes, and cakewalks in public –– nearly four hours of music, all from memory. Mr. Dowling has performed over 100 Joplin recitals nationwide in commemoration of the centennial of Joplin’s death and the sesquicentennial of his birth. His 3-CD set, The Complete Piano Works of Scott Joplin was nominated for a Grammy Award in 2018. Veteran ragtime pianist Max Morath says, “Richard Dowling’s mastery of the Joplin rags invokes a tenderness that charms us and a technical command that inspires our admiration.”

Richard Dowling has received reviews that praise him as “a master of creating beautiful sounds with impeccable control of colors and textures,” as “a musician with something to say, the skill to say it and the magnetic power to make you want to listen,” and for giving “a superb recital that left the audience craving for more at the end.” He is also a versatile recording artist with over a dozen CDs of classical, chamber, ragtime, jazz, and popular music. His newest recording is Cocktails for Two, a collection of 1920s/30s jazz works for two pianos with his duo partner, virtuoso pianist Frederick Hodges of San Francisco.

Mr. Dowling holds advanced degrees from Yale and the University of Texas, including a doctorate in music. As a sheet music editor for Ludwig/Masters and Alfred music publishing companies he has produced numerous critical performing editions of piano music. As a Piatigorsky Foundation Artist since 1994 he has performed over 1,300 recitals across America. He is currently a Visiting International Artist at the Aureus Conservatory of Music in Singapore where he teaches and performs several times per year. Mr. Dowling resides in New York City and is represented by Parker Artists. He is an official Steinway Artist and proud owner of a Model C Hamburg Steinway grand and a Model M New York Steinway grand.