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Music
Director
Richard Shelton
Rich
Shelton retired from the United States Air Force in
1995 after 25 ˝ years of service as an Air Force
Band Squadron Commander and Conductor. He retired at
the rank of Lieutenant Colonel and, at the time, was
the senior ranking officer in the Air Force Band
Program.
Colonel Shelton earned a bachelor’s degree in Music
Education from the University of Arizona in 1971,
and a Master of Music Education degree from Auburn
University in 1978. He is also a graduate of the
U.S. Air Force Air Command and Staff College and Air
War College. During his Air Force career, he
commanded six Air Force Bands in the Philippines,
Alabama, New Jersey, Virginia, Georgia and Ohio. He
directed ceremonial support for the 1983 World
Economic Summit in Williamsburg, Virginia, and the
US Bicentennial Celebration at Yorktown; led US
Embassy hosted tours throughout Thailand, Taiwan,
the Philippines and Portugal; has entertained and
performed for Presidents Reagan and George W. Bush,
French President Francois Mitterand, Pope John Paul
II, Imelda Marcos, former first lady of the
Philippines, a host of US Ambassadors, Secretaries
of Defense, US Air Force and foreign military Chiefs
of Staff; and, just prior to his retirement, he had
the honor of entertaining the U.S. Secretary of
State and Presidential delegations during the State
Department-hosted Bosnian Proximity Peace Talks in
Dayton, Ohio.
Colonel Shelton is one of the most highly decorated
band commanders in the history of the Air Force Band
Program. His military awards and decorations include
the Legion of Merit Medal, five Meritorious Service
Medals, the Air Force Commendation Medal, two Air
Force Outstanding Unit Awards, and the National
Defense Service Medal with bronze star. Under his
progressive leadership and vision, his bands have
earned four Air Force Outstanding Unit Awards, The
Air Force Organizational Excellence Award, the 1991
Presidential Award for Quality and Productivity
Improvement, the Air Force Materiel Command’s Small
Unit Quality Award for 1994, and the internationally
acclaimed John Philip Sousa Foundation’s Colonel
George S. Howard Citation of Musical Excellence for
Military Concert Bands and Conductors. He was also
selected by the US Jaycees as one of the
“Outstanding Young Men in America” for 1983.
Following his retirement after nine years as
executive director of the West Valley Symphony,
Colonel Shelton moved on to his third career in real
estate with RE/MAX Desert Showcase and owns a
promotional products business called Mark-it
Solutions, LLC. He is a founding member of the
Board of Directors of Arrowhead Community Bank in
Glendale and serves on the board of directors for
Leadership West. Rich and his wife of 37 years,
Stacia, reside in Glendale.
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