Laureation Address: Richard Michael BEM
Honorary Degree of Doctor of Music
Laureation by Bill Shackman, Assistant Chaplain
Monday 29 June 2026 – afternoon ceremony
Vice-Chancellor, it is my privilege to present for the degree of Doctor of Music, honoris causa, Richard Michael.
Richard is a force of nature. He is the epicentre of jazz in Scotland, and the United Kingdom’s premier jazz educator. Richard has worked tirelessly over fifty years, to raise an entire generation of jazz musicians in this country. No one has done more than him to explain and to introduce the language of this complex art form to a wider British public. His knowledge, enthusiasm, and talent are national treasures that he shares so generously. Richard’s teaching has given thousands of pupils their own voice. What an incredible gift to give to someone: the power, the freedom, and the courage to express yourself as yourself. Richard’s patience, enthusiasm, and encouragement inspire confidence in everyone he teaches. His students learn that everyone has a voice that can contribute to a musical conversation and his disciples have kept Jazz alive in Scotland. Richard is a living link in a musical tradition. Through broadcasts, workshops, summer schools, degree programs, Jazz scholars, the Fife Youth Jazz Orchestra (FYJO), and so many concerts, he is responsible for bringing jazz to this unlikely corner of
Scotland and keeping it alive throughout our nation. Without new players Jazz is just a collection of records. Richard Michael has created enough new players to make Jazz a living breathing musical culture in Scotland. One needs to look no further than the University’s Thursday night Jazzworks Society to see the impact that he makes on all of us. Today we would like to recognise publicly how much your teaching means, and to show the honour and respect that your gifts so rightly deserve.
I consider myself lucky to be one of Richard’s students. I will never forget the lesson he taught about what makes a good musician. According to Richard, all successful musicians have three things in common: talent, teachers, and, most importantly, family. Bach and Mozart, Ellington and Rollins, of blessed memory, all had raw talent, helpful teachers, and the support and encouragement of their loving families. When I asked Richard what the secret of his success
was, he told me emphatically that Morag, his wife, had given him the inspiration to teach and the encouragement to continue. I always wondered where Richard got the energy to keep going all the time, back and forth across the country, playing and teaching everywhere, giving so much of himself. I always thought it was just pure love of music. Richard’s joy while playing and teaching is palpable. But now I know that it is not only raw talent and drive; it is Morag who keeps him going. Thank you, Morag. Richard learned Scottish music from his own father and then he himself became the father of three incredible musicians in their own right. Joanna and Hilary have taught both me and my children invaluable lessons: listening, playing by ear, improvisation, transcription, and theory. Your family has been my family’s musical role models. I hope one day I get the chance to hear Robin play his cello with Les Siecles in Paris. I know how proud you are of your musical family. They are a testament to your greatness as a teacher, musician, and parent.
One of Richard’s other great lessons is that music is a language. To speak that language, one must learn to improvise. Spoken language, dialogue, is not rehearsed. It was only in the twentieth century that classical musicians lost the art of improvisation. Bach’s children
improvised, Chopin’s students improvised. Jazz teaches the art of improvisation. It shows us that music is more than a recital. Music is a language. The conservatoire teaches people how to read. Richard teaches people how to speak. He is a language teacher. Like a Gaelic teacher, he is preserving the legacy of a fading language, that is so important to study at this moment in time. When music risks becoming generated by soulless bots for the entertainment of soulless consumers, Richard has shown people how to find authenticity, spontaneity, connection, fun, groove, and soul. While other jazz musicians kept their secrets well-guarded, Richard knew
that music is meant to be shared. His belief in jazz is a belief in others, and in the power of music to bring people together. He has built not only an orchestra in FYJO; he has created an entire community of musicians whose network extends throughout the country. Richard is not only
a teacher, but a community builder. I have seen how his music as an organist at the Langtoun Central Church in Kirkcaldy brings people together in pure joy and reverence. His visionary role at the centre of the Scottish Jazz community has inspired so many to serve. I feel obliged to thank Kenny and Ruth Irons, Ellen Thompson, and the many other parents and volunteers who helped to organise the community that Richard built.
Richard’s accomplishments are more than a list of accolades: the British Empire Medal, the Lifetime Achievement Scottish Jazz Award, and now an honorary doctorate from the University of St Andrews. Perhaps the greatest tribute to Richard’s accomplishments is a list of some of the renowned members of the musical conversation that he has brought to Scotland to work with the young players in FYJO – Joe Temperley, Martin Taylor, Annie Ross, Georgie Fame, and Olav Vas. Their tutelage contributed to producing such talented musicians as the recent graduates pianist Fergus McCreadie and saxophonist Harben Kay. On behalf of all of them and so many others,
I feel truly humbled to present Richard for this degree.
Vice-Chancellor, in recognition of his major contribution to music and education, and to a lasting legacy of jazz in Scotland, I invite you to confer the degree of Doctor of Music, honoris causa, on Richard Michael.