Known for his subtle and nuanced playing, Rich Coburn made his orchestral debut at 17 with the Youth Symphony of the Kootenays. As well as touring throughout Canada and China, he has appeared in performance in the United States, Italy, France, and Austria. He has been “considered a hero” and praised for his “masterful playing” on his most recent tour of Eastern Canada.

Rich has been recognized for his solo piano playing but finds himself drawn to collaboration with other musicians. His favourite musical experience is playing duets and two piano repertoire with his twin brother, who is also a professional musician. Although his primary work is as a vocal collaborator and coach, Rich enjoys versatility; he balances an active schedule as an organist, arranger, composer, and choral director. He has degrees and diplomas in solo piano (ARCT, Royal Conservatory of Toronto; BMus, University of Calgary; MMus, McGill Univeristy), collaborative piano (ADip, McGill University), and organ (ARCCO, Royal Canadian College of Organists). He has also studied at the prestigious Music Academy of the West and Tanglewood Music Center programs.

Most recently Rich has toured Eastern Canada with Jeunesses Musicales du Canada’s production of Don Giovanni. This is his second season on this tour. He has worked as a coach at L’Atelier lyrique de l’Opéra de Montréal, Brott Opera, and Opera McGill, as well as Music Director with Cowtown Opera, and will join Virginia Opera as a coach in 2018.

Rich is fascinated by the compositional procedures of the very late nineteenth and twentieth century, and how they can be brought into dialogue with contemporary musical processes. He has developed a unique method of analysis for this repertoire to explore this dialogue. He is passionate about discovering and performing new music.

Quintus 4 is a natural extension of his musical personality, bringing together his passions for discovery and learning, arranging and composing, and, of course, performing.