Richard Carlson

Richard Carlson is a pianist known for his extensive body of expressive MIDI piano performances, many of which circulate widely in Disklavier and player-piano libraries. Rather than composing original works, Carlson focused on performing standard classical repertoire, recording live performances on MIDI-capable pianos so that the full nuance of touch, timing, dynamics, and pedaling could be preserved digitally.

His performances frequently appear in collections of classical MIDI files because they were created with playback on Yamaha Disklavier systems in mind, where musical realism and pianistic detail are essential. As a result, Carlson’s name is often embedded in MIDI file metadata as the performer, even when the underlying compositions themselves are by composers such as Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Chopin, or Schumann.

Although little public biographical information is available online, Carlson’s work has become a quiet standard within the player-piano world. His MIDI performances have been widely shared among piano technicians, dealers, educators, and Disklavier owners for decades, valued for their musicality and technical reliability. Today, his recordings remain an important part of the historical ecosystem of live-performed classical MIDI.