On retirement Richard Lewis taught and helped many young singers (notably Anthony Rolfe Johnson and Kim Begly) and was a much-loved and talented teacher. He taught at The Curtis Institute in Philadelphia for some years. He began to conduct - notably a 'Dream of Gerontius' with Rolfe Johnson, Brian Raynor-Cooke, Elizabeth Muir-Lewis (his wife) as the angel, and the Ditchling Choral Society. He proved to be a musical and inspiring conductor.

His last years were hard - illness overtook him - he had a stroke when he was 72, never really recovering.

Richard Lewis died in 1990