Pianist Richard Syracuse received the Bachelor and the Master of Science degrees from the Juilliard School of Music where he held the Josef Lhevinne, Frank Damrosch and John Erskine scholarships. After initial music lessons with his father, his early studies were at the Mannes College of Music with Mme.Vera Popova; at Juilliard he studied with Rosalyn Tureck and Mme. Rosina Lhevinne. A Fulbright Scholarship enabled Mr. Syracuse to study at the St. Cecilia Academy of Music in Rome, Italy under Carlo Zecchi where he received an Artist Diploma.

Mr. Syracuse has won numerous competitions and awards, most notable among them the Queen Elizabeth of Belgium, Alfredo Casella, and Louis Moreau Gottschalk International Piano Competitions, and the New York Concert Artists' Guild Award. He has toured extensively in the United States, Canada, Europe, Africa, and the Middle East as recitalist, guest soloist, and chamber musician, and has collaborated musically with such notables as Arlene Auger, Leonidis Kavakos, Eugene Fodor, Edith Peinemann, Michael Rabin, Claus Adam, Paul Draper, and Victor Borge.

Mr. Syracuse has held the position of artist-in-residence at the Bedford Springs Summer Music Festival in Bedford, Pennsylvania, the International Music Festival in Porto Carras, Chalkidiki, Greece, and the Bay View Mus ic Festival in Petosky, Michigan. Currently, he holds the position of artist-in-residence at the Lyric Mountain Summer Music Festival in Farmington, Pennsylvania. Mr. Syracuse was also invited to perform a recital and give master classes in July 2002 at the Tong-II Han Summer Piano Festival in Sunchun, South Korea.

Professor Syracuse teaches applied piano, keyboard literature, and accompanying, in addition to maintaining an active career as a soloist, accompanist, chamber musician, and jazz musician.