Richard Bunger Evans

Richard Bunger Evans was born in Allentown, Pennsylvania in 1942. He lived in a children's home from birth until the age of 3. In 1945, he was adopted by Henry and Minnie Bunger of Fountain Hill, Pennsylvania, and attended public schools there until his graduation in 1960.

Evans graduated from Oberlin College where he obtained a B.Mus. in 1964. Evans continued at the University of Illinois and earned a master's degree in music in 1966.

During his post-graduate studies, he taught at Queens University of Charlotte. In 1968 Evans accepted a position at Oberlin Conservatory to teach music theory. He then moved to Los Angeles, California where he worked as a jazz pianist, and in 1970 accepted a professorship at California State University, Dominguez Hills (CSUDH). Here he founded and directed the Electronic Music & Recording Program (EM&R), an interdisciplinary degree program among the departments of music, physics, and media. EM&R became a prototype for similar programs across the country. Evans was named Outstanding Professor 1981–1982 of the 23-campus California State University system, as well as wrote the music and contributed to the lyric for CSUDH's alma mater.

Other work

Two of Evans’s compositions are featured in The American Revolution (2025), a documentary miniseries by filmmaker Ken Burns. To celebrate his ninth decade, Evans is also composing a series of new works reflecting his Celtic heritage. His Irish dance medley, MacIntyre Cottage, was recorded remotely during the Covid pandemic by musicians in the US, Sweden, and Ireland.

Richard Bunger located his Evans family in 1984 after almost a 20-year (pre-internet) search, and added the last name Evans to his at that time. His father John Evans had died in 1956.

Evans died from pancreatic cancer on November 27, 2025. He was survived by three grown children, three grandchildren, and his wife Debra Wakefield Evans, a television and film editor. She produced the Ireland's Poet-Patriots concert series.