Richard Fowler
Music Minister
Richard (Rick) Fowler began his interest in the Church and church music at the early age of nine while singing in the historic choir of men and boys at Trinity Church on-the-Green in New Haven. It was at this point that he decided to dedicate his life to the ministry of music in the church. When his voice changed he began his formal organ study with G. Huntington Byles, Organist and Choirmaster at Trinity. Further study was done with Dr. Alexander McCurdy, head of the Organ Department at Westminster Choir College where he received a bachelor of music degree.
During the years he has held positions in major Episcopal churches in the Connecticut area and retired in 2012 from Most Holy Trinity Church in Wallingford where he had been for eighteen years. A year later he was called out of retirement to become Organist and Music Director for St. Augustine Cathedral in Bridgeport, CT while they were searching for a permanent Organist. He spent a little over a year in that position and has now been kept busy doing substitute work in area churches.
Further study was done with Rodney Hansen, Albert Russell, Edgar Hilliar and Jack Ossewaarde at St. Bartholomew’s Church in New York City. He was elected a member of the American Cathedral Organist and Choirmaster’s Association and is a past Dean of the New Haven Chapter of the American Guild of Organists. Mr. Fowler has served as a member of the Diocesan Music Commission for the Episcopal Diocese of Connecticut. He also served in the National Association of Pastoral Musicians as Director of the Hartford Archdiocesan Chapter and on a national level as a member of the Professional Concerns Committee. Up until his retirement he also maintained an active recital schedule doing dedication recitals for the Allen Organ Company. He is an Episcopalian and a member of Christ Church, New Haven.
