Biography
Richard Westenburg stood out among the foremost directors of church music across the New York metropolitan region. There he established both the Musica Sacra ensemble and Lincoln Center’s Basically Bach Festival while earning recognition as a noted educator.
Born in Minneapolis on April 26, 1932, he completed degrees at Lawrence University in Wisconsin and the University of Minnesota in choral conducting and organ. Additional studies brought him to France for work with Pierre Cochereau and Jean Langlais in those fields and for wider musical training with Nadia Boulanger; he later finished postgraduate work at the Union Theological Seminary.
New York positions followed at the Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine and Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church. In 1968 he formed the professional chorus Musica Sacra. He launched the Basically Bach Festival at Lincoln Center in 1979 and remained its music director until 1989. Between 1977 and 1989 he headed the choral department at the Juilliard School, then held the same post at Rutgers University from 1986 to 1992. Seminars on sacred music performance under his guidance took place regularly at leading institutions, and guest appearances included the Houston Symphony Orchestra, the National Symphony Orchestra of Washington, D.C., and the Los Angeles Master Chorale. He died in Norwalk, Connecticut, on February 20, 2008.
Born in Minneapolis on April 26, 1932, he completed degrees at Lawrence University in Wisconsin and the University of Minnesota in choral conducting and organ. Additional studies brought him to France for work with Pierre Cochereau and Jean Langlais in those fields and for wider musical training with Nadia Boulanger; he later finished postgraduate work at the Union Theological Seminary.
New York positions followed at the Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine and Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church. In 1968 he formed the professional chorus Musica Sacra. He launched the Basically Bach Festival at Lincoln Center in 1979 and remained its music director until 1989. Between 1977 and 1989 he headed the choral department at the Juilliard School, then held the same post at Rutgers University from 1986 to 1992. Seminars on sacred music performance under his guidance took place regularly at leading institutions, and guest appearances included the Houston Symphony Orchestra, the National Symphony Orchestra of Washington, D.C., and the Los Angeles Master Chorale. He died in Norwalk, Connecticut, on February 20, 2008.