'''Richard Cherns''' is a Scottish musician, composer and music director. His work spans theatre, film and popular music, and he is best known for his involvement in Scottish rock and theatre music from the late 1970s to the 1990s. His credits include work as a composer, keyboardist and guitarist.
== Career ==
=== Early career === During the 1970s, Cherns composed music for theatre including the Clerwood Theatre Company<ref>{{Cite news |date=10 August 1978 |title=Regional Theatre |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0001180/19780810/160/0018 |work=The Stage |pages=18 |via=britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk}}</ref> and Theatre Workshop.<ref>{{Cite news |date=6 April 1974 |title=Traverse |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000540/19740406/079/0006 |work=The Scotsman |pages=6}}</ref> He performed with The Medium Wave Band<ref>{{Cite news |date=16 December 1977 |title=Musicscene |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0001062/19771216/428/0024 |work=Fife Free Press |pages=24 |via=britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk}}</ref> and other groups, including ''Finn MacCuill'',<ref>{{Cite news |date=18 July 1980 |title=Kircaldy Folk Club |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0001062/19800718/336/0019 |work=Fife Free Press |pages=19 |via=britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk}}</ref> establishing his early reputation as a performer and composer.
=== Runrig === From 1981 to 1986, Cherns was a member of the Scottish Celtic rock band Runrig, serving as the group’s keyboardist. During this period, he contributed to several recordings, including the album ''Heartland''(1985). He left the band in 1986 after five years and was succeeded by Pete Wishart.
=== Theatre === In 1981, Cherns co-founded Theatre Alba with theatre director Charles Nowosielski'''.<ref>{{Cite news |date=3 June 2020 |title=Obituary: Charles Nowosielski, visionary director behind Theatre Alba |url=https://www.scotsman.com/news/people/obituary-charles-nowosielski-visionary-director-behind-theatre-alba-2871701 |work=The Scotsman}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=8 February 1982 |title=Marriage Lines from the Vatican |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000740/19820208/032/0002 |work=Edinburgh Evening News |pages=2 |via=britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk}}</ref>''' The Edinburgh based company, which dissolved in 2018, produced and promoted new Scottish plays by Scottish authors incorporating Scottish traditional music, staged plays in the Scots language and encouraged new Scottish writing.<ref>{{Cite news |date=8 February 1982 |title=Marriage Lines from the Vatican |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000740/19820208/032/0002 |work=Edinburgh Evening News |pages=2 |via=britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk}}</ref> Cherns served as the company’s composer and musical director, writing and directing much of the music for its productions.
From 1986, Cherns worked with Nowosielski as resident musical director and composer at the Brunton Theatre in Musselburgh,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Purves |first=Graeme |date=7 January 2026 |title=Charles Nowosielski at the Brunton Theatre |url=https://bellacaledonia.org.uk/2026/01/07/charles-nowosielski-at-the-brunton-theatre/ |website=Bella Caledonia}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=5 September 1986 |title=Brunton - Scotland's Theatre of Ambition |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0005239/19860905/008/0002 |work=Musselburgh News |via=britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk}}</ref> contributing scores for a wide range of theatrical productions. In 1991, he took on the same roles at the Lyric Theatre in Belfast, where he worked until 1993.
=== Recorded works === In addition to his theatre work, Cherns has performed, arranged or composed music for a number of studio recordings,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Richard Cherns |url=https://www.discogs.com/artist/768525-Richard-Cherns |website=discogs.com}}</ref> including:
* ''Rocky Roads'' by Avalon * ''Coming Home'' by Fiona Kennedy * ''On the West Side'' by Donnie Munro * ''Garden Boy'' by Donnie Munro * ''Heartland'' by Runrig * The soundtrack to the 1997 film adaptation of ''Macbeth<ref>{{Cite web |title=Shakespeare on View. Macbeth 1997: Jeremy Freeston |url=https://www.scholarsonline.org/~drmcm/sof/index.php?pl=macbeth&mo=macbeth_06 |website=scholarsonline.org}}</ref>''
== References == <references /> {{DEFAULTSORT:Cherns, Richard}} Category:Scottish composers Category:Runrig members Category:Scottish keyboardists Category:Scottish rock music groups Category:Scottish folk musicians Category:Scottish theatre people Category:Scottish pop musicians Category:Scottish film score composers Category:Celtic music Category:Celtic rock music Category:Living people Category:Year of birth missing (living people)