"probably the greatest young 'cello talent since Jacqueline du Pré."
(The Strad)

"an articulate musician with zest, spontaneity, technical assurance and a lovely sense of line…a major talent."
(Helen Wallace, BBC Music Magazine)

Since his critically acclaimed concerto debut at the age of ten, the award-winning English 'cellist Richard Harwood 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.

As chamber musician, he has collaborated with the Jerusalem and Endellion Quartets, Gidon Kremer, Yuri Bashmet, Olivier Charlier, Benjamin Schmid, Ilya Gringolts, Pekka Kuusisto, Chen Halevi, Julian Bliss, Martin Roscoe, Finghin Collins, Ashley Wass, Gottlieb Wallisch, and Julius Drake, among others.

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 discography includes a critically acclaimed debut disc for EMI Classics, recorded with pianist Christoph Berner. In addition, Richard can be seen and heard in Phil Grabsky's 2009 documentary In Search of Beethoven which received its theatrical premiere at the Barbican Theatre, London, was broadcast on Sky Arts, and shown in cinemas worldwide.

Contemporary music plays an important role for Richard. This started in 2002 when 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. He has also worked with Philip Grange, giving the London premiere of his Nocturnal Image and given the European premiere of David Horne's Zip with the composer at the piano.

Richard 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.

Richard has won many awards beginning in 1992 when he became the youngest ever winner of the Audi Junior Musician Award. The recipient of many awards from the MBF, Hattori Foundation, and KPMG / Martin Musical Scholarship Fund, Richard continued this success by winning the 2004 Pierre Fournier Award. He was also the first British 'cellist ever to be awarded the title "Bachpreisträger" at the International Johann Sebastian Bach Competition, Leipzig 2004. Among many other accolades, he received the special "mention" prize from the jury at the Rostropovich Competition, Paris in 2005.

Richard plays a 'cello by Francesco Rugeri, dated 1692.

"His playing is hard to beat for sheer beauty of tone."
(Janet Banks, The Strad)

"Fresh insight, effortless musicianship and a confidence belying his years."
(Anthony Holden, The Observer)

LAST UPDATED : OCTOBER 2011
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