Richard Franko Goldman

Who was Richard Franko Goldman?

Richard Franko Goldman was a conductor, educator, author, music critic, and composer.

Born Richard Henry Maibrunn Goldman, he adopted the same middle name as his father, the conductor Edwin Franko Goldman, whose middle name came from the latter's mother's musical family.

After graduating from Townsend Harris High School in Manhattan, New York, Richard Goldman attended Columbia University, graduating in 1930 with an A.B.. After a year of graduate study at Columbia, he then went to Paris to study composition with Nadia Boulanger. He also studied privately with Wallingford Riegger. During World War II he served in the Office of Strategic Services.

He was associate conductor 1937-1956 and then succeeded his father as conductor of the Goldman Band of New York City. He led that band from 1956 until poor health caused him to stop conducting in the summer of 1979. He dissolved the band, but it returned to perform as the Guggenheim Concerts Band in 1980 and the Goldman Memorial Band in 1984.

He taught at the Juilliard School 1947-1960 and was a visiting professor at Princeton University 1952-1956.