Remembering Richard Veale

Richard Veale spent the past thirty-eight years of his life dedicated to teaching the students of Columbia College. During his career he performed in 24 operas, four operettas, 10 musicals and more than 500 concerts delighting audiences everywhere. Veale sang as one third of the Palmer, Veale, Gibson Trio who entertained with the music of Broadway and performed throughout the state of South Carolina for over four decades.

A lyric tenor and actor, Richard also sang with the SC Philharmonic Orchestra, the USC Concert Choir, the USC Opera Workshop, the Town Theatre, the Sandlapper Singers, the Palmetto Mastersingers, the Columbia Choral Society, the Columbia College Opera productions and the South Carolina Educational Television network, and with orchestras in Georgia, Louisiana, Tennessee and Michigan.

Student evaluations proclaimed Professor Veale as “very passionate about music and very caring about the people he teaches,” “sensitive to vocal difficulties…and adjusted his method accordingly,” “his patience is reassuring – very understanding to his students,” “praising the students when good work is done,” “so positive and enthusiastic,” “has a wonderful sense of humor when learning new assignments,” "is very specific and thorough in his teaching style and cares about his students a lot.”

Richard is remembered by his departmental colleagues as a “a most caring, kind, and compassionate colleague who (with apologies to Johnny Mercer) accentuated the positive, eliminated the negative, and latched on to the affirmative,” “totally reliable and musically impeccable,” and “more fun than a person should be in a Departmental meeting.” One of his mottos was "keep on keeping on" and he taught others by example through his dedication and the joy he brought to his life’s work.