Richard James Gill AO (4 November 1941 – 28 October 2018) was an Australian conductor of choral, orchestral and operatic works.

He was later invited to teach at the summer schools in Salzburg; on one occasion he was one of the pianists in the version of Carmina Burana for two pianos and percussion, conducted by Carl Orff himself.

In 1982, he was invited as a principal presenter to the annual conference of the American Orff Schulwerk Association (AOSA); this led to further workshops and classes throughout the United States.

Other posts include dean of the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts WAAPA (1985–1990) and Director of Chorus at the Opera Australia (1990–1996).

[6] In 2022, the orchestra released its debut album, Perspective & Celebration, featuring Gill conducting Mendelssohn's concert overture The Hebrides.

[15] Prior to his death, plans were well-advanced to establish a music-based primary school in New South Wales in 2020, to be known as the Muswellbrook Richard Gill National Music Academy.

The school song "O Come Now My Friends" has words by Gill's son Anthony, and music by Australian composer Nigel Westlake.

For the Victorian Opera he conducted the new Australian works The Love of the Nightingale by Richard Mills (2007), Alan John's Through the Looking Glass (2008) and Andrew Ford's Rembrandt's Wife (2009).

The Sir Bernard Heinze Memorial Award is given to a person who has made an outstanding contribution to music in Australia.

[26] It was founded by the Australia Council in honour of Don Banks, Australian composer, performer and the first chair of its music board.