Eric Richards—composer, arranger, conductor, trombonist, and educator—is active in a wide range of musical media. His works have been heard worldwide in performances and recordings by numerous ensembles, including the U.S. Army Field Band and Jazz Ambassadors, USAF Airmen of Note, University of Northern Colorado Jazz Lab Band I, Oregon Jazz Ensemble (University of Oregon), National Symphony Orchestra, Boston Pops Orchestra, Dallas Wind Symphony, Millikin University Wind Ensemble, A La Carte Brass and Percussion, Tommy Lepson and the Lazy Boys, and Sunrise String Quartet.

Eric is a regularly commissioned composer and arranger. Recent commissions include pieces for the USAF Heritage of America Band, UNC Jazz Lab Band I, UNC/Greeley Jazz Festival All-Star Big Band, Southeast Asia Symphonic Youth Orchestra and Wind Ensemble, Hall High School Concert Jazz Band (West Hartford, CT), the Government of Thailand, and the Aiken Community Band (Aiken, SC).

From 1984–2004, Eric served as composer and arranger with the U.S. Army Field Band near Washington, D.C. In 2004, he was named director of bands and assistant professor of music theory and technology at Midland Lutheran College in Nebraska. Eric received a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in composition from the University of Maryland at College Park, where he studied with Mark Wilson and Robert Gibson, and a Master of Music degree in composition from Duquesne University, where he studied with John Wilson and Joseph Wilcox Jenkins.