Richard Lomas Hartzell

Richard Lomas Hartzell "Dick" died Saturday, May 30, 2026 after a brief illness. He was 82. He was born in Rochester, New York with his identical twin Julian Crane to parents Karl D Hartzell and Anna C Lomas Hartzell. His older brother was K Drew Hartzell Jr. He is survived by his niece Cynthia E Gonzalez and her children Alexander D and Margaret R.

After graduating from Milton Academy in Massachusetts, he attended and graduated from Wesleyan University in Connecticut with a BA in Music. He served in the US Army, playing the trumpet in the Army Band and serving as trumpet instructor at the Armed Forces School of Music in Norfolk, Virginia. In the early 1970s he attended The Catholic University of America where he earned an MM in voice.

He taught voice for over 40 years, mostly at his private voice studio in Silver Spring, Maryland. In 1984 he founded and became artistic director of The Musical Theater Center in Rockville, Maryland which he guided for 20 years. He taught musical theater history at the Peabody Institute Elderhostel in Baltimore, and taught voice at The Catholic University of America, the Studio Theatre, the Little Theatre of Alexandria, the Academy of the Holy Cross in Bethesda, and the Jewish Community Center of Greater Washington, all in the Washington, D.C. area. He joined the faculty at Goucher College in Baltimore, Maryland where he taught singing and also directed 23 productions of musicals and well-known operas. After 2019, he began to teach fewer students, ending his teacher career in 2023.

As an administrator, Richard served in the Student Activities area of the Maryland State Music Teachers Association (MSMTA) as well as with the Montgomery County Music Teachers Association. For over 18 years he chaired the annual MSMTA Voice Competition. He was a member of the National Association of Teachers of Singing. In 2002 He received the Tony Taylor Award from the Cultural Alliance of Greater Washington, given annually to an individual in recognition of his contribution to young, aspiring artists. His Christmas anthem for chorus, soloist, and orchestra “His Name is Jesus” was published in 2006.

Dick was an endearing man. He loved his family, his students and their parents, and was always looking for ways to help others by connecting them with people he knew. He remained “current” ensuring his family and his students were aware of new artists and their songs. He traveled to New York City often in the last 20 years, attending Broadway shows, teaching voice, and supporting the American Ballet Theatre. He influenced the lives of 100s of children, remaining close to many of them (and their parents), traveling to see some annually. He was well-known for the twinkle in his eyes as he made jokes, and those who saw him recently remarked how sad it was for the twinkle and his playfulness to disappear.

Memorial service information will be posted at a later date.