The
young English 'cellist Richard Harwood began his studies with Joan Dickson
before continuing with other eminent teachers such as Steven Doane, David Waterman,
Heinrich Schiff (University of Music and Dramatic Art, Vienna), and Ralph Kirshbaum
(Royal Northern College of Music, Manchester).
He
complemented his studies by taking master classes and lessons with Mstislav Rostropovich,
Janos Starker, Steven Isserlis, Boris Pergamenschikow, Miklós Perényi, Bernard
Greenhouse, Valentin Erben (Alban Berg Quartet), William Pleeth, Zara Nelsova,
and Ferenc Rados.
Since
his critically acclaimed concerto debut at the age of ten, Richard has performed
concerti and recitals in major venues including London’s Royal Albert Hall, all
of the South Bank Centre venues, Wigmore Hall, Musikverein (Vienna), Alte Oper
(Frankfurt), Thomaskirche (Leipzig), and the Auditorium du Louvre (Paris).
Concerto
performances have taken Richard throughout Europe, New Zealand, and the Russian
Federation. He has collaborated with conductors such as Okko Kamu, Marko Letonja,
Douglas Bostock, David Parry, En Shao, Shuntaro Sato, and Yehudi Menuhin, and
been soloist with numerous orchestras including the London Philharmonic Youth
Orchestra, Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, The Philharmonia, Auckland Philharmonia,
and the Ural Philharmonic.
Richard
enjoys life as a recitalist and chamber musician. He made his Wigmore Hall recital
debut in 1998, aged eighteen, and his Purcell Room recital debut took place the
following year. Both were with the pianist Julius Drake.
As
chamber musician, he has collaborated with the Endellion Quartet, Olivier Charlier,
Benjamin Schmid, Ilya Gringolts, Pekka Kuusisto, Jack Liebeck, Alexander Sitkovetsky,
Ida Levin, Guy Ben-Ziony, James Boyd, Chen Halevi, Julian Bliss, Finghin Collins,
Gottlieb Wallisch, and Ashley Wass, among others. At Chamber Music Connects the
World in 2006, Richard gave concerts in Frankfurt and Kronberg with Gidon Kremer,
Yuri Bashmet, and Eduard Brunner.
Richard
regularly plays on BBC, having made his BBC Radio 3 debut at the age of thirteen
with a live recording of the Elgar Concerto. He has also given performances for
Radio France, MDR, and Radio New Zealand. Richard’s debut disc for EMI Classics,
recorded with pianist Christoph Berner, was released to wide critical acclaim
in 2007.
Contemporary
music plays an important role for Richard. In 2002, he took part in the Park Lane
Group Young Artists' Series on the South Bank and premiered solo works written
for him by Dominic Muldowney and Martin Butler. Richard has continued to work
closely with Dominic and recorded the solo ‘cello part to his score for the BBC
Television Drama Holy Cross. He has also worked with Philip Grange, giving the
London premiere of his Nocturnal Image and, in 2004, gave the European premiere
of David Horne’s Zip with the composer at the piano.
Richard
has won many awards. In 1992, he became the youngest ever winner of the Audi Junior
Musician Award. More recently, Richard won the 2004 Pierre Fournier Award and,
the same year, became the first British 'cellist ever to be awarded the title
"Bachpreisträger" at the International Johann Sebastian Bach Competition, Leipzig.
In 2005, he received a special ”mention” from the jury at the Rostropovich Competition,
Paris. In addition to a 2001 Maisie Lewis Young Artists Award from the Worshipful
Company of Musicians, Richard has won Music Education, Myra Hess, and Ian Fleming
Trust Awards from the MBF. He has also received support from the Hattori Foundation
and benefited from over a decade of assistance from the KPMG/Martin Musical Scholarship
Fund. In 1997, BBC Music Magazine selected him in their world-wide Who's Who edition
and, in 2000, Richard was entered into the new edition of the International
Who's Who in Music as an 'up and coming talent on the brink of world-wide
recognition.'
Performances
in the coming seasons will include Lalo, Barber, and Haydn Concerti and recitals
and chamber music with Gottlieb Wallisch, Julia Fedoseeva, Christoph Berner, Ilya
Gringolts, Chloe Hanslip, and Alexander Sitkovetsky at venues and festivals such
as the Budapest Spring Festival, Vienna's Musikverein, and London's Wigmore Hall.
In
2009, Richard can be seen and heard in Phil Grabsky's new documentary In Search
of Beethoven which will receive its theatrical premiere at the Barbican Theatre,
London and broadcast premiere on Sky Arts.
Richard
plays a 'cello by Francesco Rugeri, dated 1692.
"His
playing is hard to beat for sheer beauty of tone."
(Janet
Banks, The Strad, 2007)
"Fresh
insight, effortless musicianship and a confidence belying his years."
(Anthony
Holden, The Observer, 2007)
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