Richard Allen Roe

Richard Allen Roe, 60, passed away on September 3, 2021 after bravely battling NK Cell Lymphoma for nearly a year.  He is survived by his devoted wife, Patrice (née Weiglein), son Nicholas, his canine companion Desi, sisters Elizabeth (Eric) Smylie and Rebecca (James) Hughes, as well as nieces and nephews.   Son of the late Harry Sherman Roe and Sarah "Sadie" Elizabeth Gardner, Rick grew up in Corpus Christi, Texas with his three older sisters.  He was preceded in death by his parents, his sister Rosaile (Gary) Hatfield, and beloved dogs Starbuck, Sasha, and Uncle Tuffy.

A lifelong musician, Richard Allen Roe was the Founder, Artistic Director, and Conductor of ChorSymphonica, a professional choir and orchestra in the metropolitan Washington, DC area. Prior to forming ChorSymphonica, Rick led a Bach Cantata series at First Trinity Lutheran Church in Washington, DC, and was conductor of Bach to the Future (now the Tidewater Chamber Singers) on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. He taught choral music and choral conducting at York College of Pennsylvania and as a graduate student at Indiana University and the University of Iowa.

He held degrees from the University of North Texas and Southern Methodist University, and completed all courses and qualifying examinations leading to the Doctor of Music degree in choral conducting at Indiana University. Rick pursued additional graduate studies at Westminster Choir College, at the Hochschule für Musik und darstellende Kunst, Frankfurt am Main, Germany, where at the age of 22 he was accepted into the conducting class of Helmuth Rilling, and at the Internationale Bachakademie Stuttgart, Germany.

Rick performed as a chorister under Riccardo Muti, Zubin Mehta, Helmuth Rilling, Robert Shaw, Eduardo Mata, and many others. As a professional choral singer he concertized, recorded and toured with the Gächinger Kantorei Stuttgart. Besides Helmuth Rilling, his primary conducting teachers were Henry Gibbons and Anshel Brusilow.

In addition to his classical music pursuits, Rick was an accomplished jazz/rock/bluegrass/finger-style guitar player and taught many students over the last 20 years.  

Rick was dedicated to filling the world and our hearts with music, which he pursued as a spiritual mission, as he felt that performing and experiencing great music brought people closer to God, to eternal truths, and to one another. 

Visitation will begin at 10:15am on Saturday, September 18, 2021 at St. Jane Frances de Chantal Catholic Church, 9601 Old Georgetown Road, Bethesda, Maryland 20814; where the Funeral Mass will begin at 11:00am.