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Richard Hartzell received a B.A. degree in music from Wesleyan University in Middletown, CT and an M.M. degree in voice from the Catholic University of America.  He has taught voice for 42 years, and he has a private studio in Silver Spring, MD.  He has also taught at The Voice Studio in New York City.   Prior to retiring in 2004, he was the artistic director of the Musical Theater Center in Rockville, MD which he founded in 1984.  He has taught musical theater history at the Peabody Institute Elderhostel in Baltimore, and has taught voice at the Catholic University of America, the Studio Theatre, the Little Theatre of Alexandria, and the Jewish Community Center of Greater Washington, all in the Washington, D. C. area.    In 2005 and 2006 he conducted vocal ensembles at the Academy of the Holy Cross in Bethesda, MD, and in the fall of 2007 he became a full-time member of the music department faculty at Goucher College in Baltimore, MD.   At Goucher he taught voice and directed and music directed 22 musicals and operas.  He is a member of the Board of Directors of the Maryland State Music Teachers Association, has served as a Vice President in numerous capacities, and for 25 years he has been chair of its annual voice competition. He is a member of the Board of Directors of the MDDC chapter of the National Association of Teachers of Singing. He is a member of the Montgomery County Music Teachers Association. He sang in the first Kennedy Center opera, Beatrix Cenci, in 1972.  In the world of dance, he was a member of the Board of Directors of the Washington Ballet in the 1980’s and also served as musical adviser and member of the Board of the Murray Spalding Dance Company.  Currently he is a member of the Dancer’s Circle of American Ballet Theatre and has served as music adviser to the Bowen McCauley Dance Company.   In 2002 he received the Tony Taylor Award from the Cultural Alliance of Greater Washington, given annually to an individual in recognition of his contributions to the development of young aspiring artists.   Currently, Richard is working on a project involving turning an award-winning film into an opera.