Richard Sowers, retired, is the former Director of Music Ministries for Williamsburg UMC (Williamsburg VA), Southern Hills UMC (Lexington, KY) and Christ Episcopal Church (Bowling Green, KY). While working in Virginia he also founded the Williamsburg Bach Choir and Handel Chamber Orchestra. Sowers was the former Music Director and Conductor of the Abington Symphony Orchestra where he also served as Director of Music Ministries for Abington Presbyterian Church outside Philadelphia. During his tenure as Director of Choral Activities at Lindsey Wilson College Sowers was also Music Director of The Louisville Chorus where his association with Robert Page and Chorus America resulted in its becoming a semi-professional chorus. For over ten years Sowers worked under Moritz Bomhard (Kentucky Opera) and Robert Driver (Philadelphia Opera) through a fellowship grant from the National Opera Institute. Sowers held leadership positions in marketing and development in Syracuse, Rochester, Indianapolis, Louisville, and Memphis; was Associate Director for Connecticut Opera, and General Artistic Director for Orlando Opera. Often a featured singer, Sowers performed with Kentucky Opera, Actors Theatre of Louisville, on WHAS-TV (Louisville), and with the Louisville Bach Society. Sowers was the 1st-place winner of the Louisville District Metropolitan Opera Auditions, and for four seasons performed the title role in “The Stephen Foster Story” in Bardstown, KY and Tokyo, Japan. He holds applied music degrees from the University of Louisville School of Music, sang with the Indiana University Opera Theater where he was an adjunct instructor of voice, and completed doctoral studies as a graduate assistant in conducting at the University of Cincinnati (CCM). Sowers attributes his deep love of music to his teacher-mentors Fletcher Smith, Walter Cassel, Eileen Farrell, Gerhard Herz, John Alexander, Alan Harlar, Julius Hereford, John Wustman, Elmer Thomas, Earl Rivers, and Teri Murai.