Richard is currently pursuing his Masters of Music in Composition at the Hartt School in Connecticut, where he has studied under Robert Carl and David Macbride. He received his Bachelors of Music in Composition from West Chester University of Pennsylvania. There he studied under composers Larry Nelson, Robert Maggio, and Greg Wilder. He also credits historian Charles Hardy as being a crucial part of his education.

Richard finds eastern philosophy is an important part of his music, and resultingly is heavily influenced by 20th century composers Takemitsu Toru and John Cage. Cage's influence is resulting in a series of "landscape" pieces for Max/MSP, in which a Cage-style gamut is randomly used to produce an environment of sound, while Takemitsu's influence pushes his concert pieces toward a synthesis of Impressionism and 20th century style.

In addition to these traditional influences, richard also finds a great deal of inspiration in the artform of the 20th century, film. Not only do film scores serve to inspire richard, but moreso do the films themselves, with a particular focus on the works of Kurosawa Akira and Kitano Takeshi, not to mention the great Miyazaki Hayao.

And let's not forget the greatest art of... nature. At times a single falling snowflake, one changing autumn leaf, the gentle ripple of a stream... all of these have the potential to deafen with inspiration.