Richard Harwood

Richard Harwood was born in Portsmouth, Hampshire and began learning to play the piano, aged four (teachers included Diana Bell and Joyce Rathbone) and the cello, aged five. He attended Ditcham Park School. He achieved his Associated Board Grade 8 in cello, aged 8 and in piano, aged 11.

After beginning cello studies with two local teachers, Richard studied with Joan Dickson from 1988 until her death in 1994, before continuing with Steven Doane and David Waterman (1994–1999), Heinrich Schiff (1999-2003 at the University of Music and Dramatic Art, Vienna) and Ralph Kirshbaum (2003-2005 at the Royal Northern College of Music, Manchester).

He complemented his studies by taking master classes and lessons with Mstislav Rostropovich, János Starker,[1] Steven Isserlis, Boris Pergamenschikow, Miklós Perényi, Bernard Greenhouse,[2] Valentin Erben (Alban Berg Quartet), William Pleeth, Zara Nelsova, and Ferenc Rados.

Richard made his concerto debut at the age of ten (playing the G minor Kabalevsky Concerto at the Adrian Boult Hall, Birmingham) and, since then, has gone on to perform concerti and recitals in major venues including the Royal Albert Hall, Royal Festival Hall, Queen Elizabeth Hall, Wigmore Hall, Musikverein, Concertgebouw, Alte Oper, Thomaskirche, and the Auditorium du Louvre.

As concerto soloist, Richard has collaborated with conductors such as John Wilson,[3] Okko Kamu,[4] Marko Letonja, Douglas Bostock, En Shao, Shuntaro Sato, David Parry and Yehudi Menuhin, and with numerous orchestras including The Philharmonia, Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, RTÉ Concert Orchestra,[3] Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra,[4] and the Ural Philharmonic Orchestra.

As chamber musician, he has collaborated with the Jerusalem and Endellion Quartets, Gidon Kremer, Yuri Bashmet, Olivier Charlier, Benjamin Schmid, Alena Baeva, Ilya Gringolts, Pekka Kuusisto, Vilde Frang, Chen Halevi, Julian Bliss, Martin Roscoe, Finghin Collins, Ashley Wass, Gottlieb Wallisch, and Julius Drake, among others. In 2014, Richard became the cellist of the Sitkovetsky Trio.[5]

Richard is regularly heard 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, RTÉ,[6] and Radio New Zealand.[4]

Richard's discography include a critically acclaimed debut disc for EMI Classics,[7] recorded with pianist Christoph Berner, and Composing Without The Picture, a 2013 solo album of concert works written by film composers, on Resonus.[8] 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.[9]

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. For his solo album Composing Without the Picture, Richard premiered works written for him by Christopher Gunning, Alex Heffes, Fernando Velázquez, and Benjamin Wallfisch.[10]

Richard has won numerous awards including the 2004 Pierre Fournier Award for 'cellists.[11] In 1992, he became the youngest ever winner of the Audi Junior Musician Award. In addition, he won the Worshipful Company of Musicians Maisie Lewis Young Artists Award in 2001 and, in 2004, Richard became the first British 'cellist ever to be awarded the title "Bachpreisträger" at the International Johann Sebastian Bach Competition, Leipzig.[12] Among many other accolades, he received the special "mention" prize from the jury at the Concours de violoncelle Rostropovitch, Paris in 2005.[13]

In 1997, BBC Music Magazine selected him in their worldwide "Who's Who" edition and, in 2000, Richard was entered into the "International Who's Who in Music" as an 'up and coming talent on the brink of worldwide recognition.'[14]

Richard plays a cello by Francesco Rugeri, dated 1692.

• Composing Without the Picture: Concert Works by Film Composers (Resonus, 2013)[15]
• Richard Harwood: Beethoven, Chopin sonatas etc. (EMI Classics, 2007)[16]
• Preisträgerkonzert - XIV. Internationaler Johann Sebastian Bach Wettbewerb 2004 (MDR / Bach-Archiv Leipzig, 2004)
• Adiemus V - 'Vocalise' - Karl Jenkins (EMI, 2003)[17]

• Official website
• Richard Harwood at IMDb