Richard Alan Beirach (May 23, 1947 in Brooklyn – January 26, 2026 in Worms) was an American jazz pianist and composer.

Beirach received classical piano training from James Palmieri. From 1967 to 1968, he studied at Berklee College of Music in Boston with Margaret Chaloff and Charlie Mariano, followed by composition studies with Ludmila Ulehla at the Manhattan School of Music in New York until 1972.

He became a member of Stan Getz's band, along with Dave Holland and Jack DeJohnette. From 1973 to 1976, he was a member of Dave Liebman's band, Lookout Farm. In 1976, his first album as bandleader Eon, featuring Eliot Zigmund and Frank Tusa, was released, followed in 1977 by his first solo album, Hubris. He also worked as a sideman and toured with John Abercrombie, George Adams, Chet Baker, Jeremy Steig, and John Scofield.

From 1981 to 1991, he was a member of the band Quest (which was revived in 2006) with drummers Billy Hart (later Al Foster) and bassist George Mraz (later Ron McClure), with whom he recorded six albums. He continued to work as a soloist and in a duo with Dave Liebman. In the early 1990s, he performed with the Ron McClure Trio, in a trio with Dave Liebman and Jack DeJohnette, and as a sideman for trombonist Conrad Herwig.

Since the mid-1990s, he has primarily worked in two trio formations: with George Mraz and Billy Hart, and with Gregor Hübner and Veit Hübner or George Mraz. He also frequently performed with the Konstanz-based drummer Patrick Manzecchi. In 2016, he formed the New Richie Beirach Trio with Regina Litvinova and Christian Scheuber. In 2022, his trio included Tilman Oberbeck and Tobias Frohnhöfer.

From 2000 to 2014, Beirach taught jazz piano as a professor at the Leipzig University of Music.
As a film composer, he scored Dominik Graf's feature film Fabian oder Der Gang vor die Hunde (2021).
From 2015 onward, Beirach lived (initially together with his trio colleagues Christian Scheuber (drums) and Regina Litvinova (piano)) on a farm in the Palatinate municipality of Heßheim.

https://richiebeirach.com

The Richie Beirach Trio - Footprints

Jazz à Liège 2006⎜R.Beirach/M.Vink/S.La Rocca "SOLAR"

Richie Beirach - Round Midnight