Described as “an ambitious and daring composer” who has “come up with a distinctive synthesis of modern jazz, and contemporary orchestral music” (Dave Wayne, All About Jazz), composer/guitarist Richard Nelson fosters a healthy creative interplay between the in-the-moment spontaneity of improvisational explorations and the more deliberately organized realms of composition.

Richard is co-leader, guitarist, and a principal composer for the Makrokosmos Orchestra, a 15-player, New York-based hybrid jazz/new-music ensemble, with numerous appearances at ShapeShifter Lab in Brooklyn and a recent album, Dissolve, featuring his compositions. Dissolve (Adhyâropa Records) is a triptych of his large-ensemble compositions for the Makrokosmos group. Dan McClenaghan at All About Jazz called it "modern jazz at its highest level" and Kevin Whitlock at Jazzwise (UK) described it as "bursting with energy, ideas and dynamism . . . Big band sonics taken to the 23rd century."

Richard's works have additionally been performed by ensembles such as ALEA III, the Charleston Symphony Orchestra, the Aardvark Jazz Orchestra, and the Portland Piano Trio at venues including the Piccolo Spoleto Festival, Miller Theater, the University of Cape Town (South Africa), and numerous other U.S. festivals and universities. He has written commissioned works for a number of notable performing ensembles including Aardvark, the flute and harp Duo 2, and the Resinosa Ensemble, and he has received fellowships and residencies from the MacDowell Colony, Yaddo, Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, and the Charles Ives Center, among others.

 As a jazz performer and composer/bandleader, Richard has performed widely at festivals, clubs, colleges and other venues in the U.S. and abroad, including the Boston and Concord Jazz Festivals; St. Peter's Church, ShapeShifter Lab, and Symphony Space in New York; and Scullers Jazz Club and The Regattabar in Boston.  Musicians he has had the privilege of performing with include, in his student years, guest artists including Slide Hampton, Joe Henderson, John Handy, George Duke, and Joe Pass, and, more recently, Sheila Jordan, Geri Allen, Adam Kolker, Taylor Ho-Bynum, Ken Filiano, Steve Grover, and Don Stratton. Many of these appearances have been with the internationally recognized Boston-based Aardvark Jazz Orchestra, of which he has been a core member for many years.  Richard also performs regularly in Maine and northern New England with his own eclectic Imaginary Ensemble.

 Richard has released five albums of his original compositions and arrangements as leader, exploring both large- and small-ensemble configurations. Most recent is Dissolve (described above), a group of large-ensemble compositions for the New York-based Makrokosmos Orchestra—in which "he takes new directions while also satisfying [listeners'] affection for thoughtfully conceived music that bridges jazz, classical, and other forms" (Steve Feeny. The Arts Fuse (Boston).

 Additional releases include Pursuit (Richard Nelson Large Ensemble), Origin Story (Richard Nelson Quintet), Figurations (Richard Nelson Trio), and Deep River (featuring the Aardvark Jazz Orchestra). Cadence (Jerome Wilson) called Deep River “… an atmospheric large group setting worthy of Gil Evans” and the Boston Globe (Kevin Lowenthal) described it as “… a masterful suite…that merges jazz and American folk music.” Richard also appears as a sideman on many other recordings, including fifteen with Aardvark.

 Richard's undergraduate education was at the University of California (Berkeley). His graduate studies in composition were at Indiana University and Columbia; his principal teachers were Don Erb and Mario Davidovsky. He additionally studied with Bob Brookmeyer and Manny Albam at the BMI Jazz Composers Workshop. A native of the San Francisco Bay Area, Nelson resides in Maine. Now Professor Emeritus, through 2021 he was the head of Composition and Sonic Arts studies at the University of Maine at Augusta; he was additionally active in jazz studies and music theory instruction there. He continues to offer private lessons and American music history classes at UMA on a part-time basis.