Richard Harwood - Biography

Biography

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, Steven Isserlis, Boris Pergamenschikow, Miklós Perényi, 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 in many of Britain's major concert halls, including the Royal Albert Hall, Queen Elizabeth Hall, Royal Festival Hall, St. John's, Smith Square, and St. George's, Brandon Hill. He has collaborated with conductors such as Douglas Bostock, David Parry, En Shao, Shuntaro Sato, and Yehudi Menuhin, and been soloist with numerous orchestras including the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, The Philharmonia, and the Ural Philharmonic.

Richard made his BBC Radio 3 debut at the age of thirteen with the Elgar Concerto, which he subsequently performed on a national tour of New Zealand; he has also recorded Tchaikovsky's Variations on a Rococo Theme for BBC Radio 3.

In addition to concerto performances, Richard has performed a wide range of recital and chamber music programmes. He made his Wigmore Hall recital debut in April 1998, and his Purcell Room debut took place in January 1999. Both were with the pianist Julius Drake. Richard has also worked with the pianists Christoph Berner, Gretel Dowdeswell, and Connie Shih. As a chamber musician, he has collaborated with the Endellion Quartet, Ida Levin, Guy Ben-Ziony, Chen Halevi and Catherine Leonard, among others. Regularly performing throughout Europe, Richard made his Viennese debut at the Schönbrunn Palace Theatre in 1997.

Contemporary music plays an important role in Richard's life. In January 2002, he took part in the PLG Young Artists' Series on the South Bank and premiered solo works written for him by Dominic Muldowney and Martin Butler. He collaborated with Dominic Muldowney again in 2003, recording the solo cello part to his score for the BBC Television drama, Holy Cross.

Richard has won numerous awards including the 2004 Pierre Fournier Award for 'cellists. 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.

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.'

His debut recital recording for EMI Classics was released to critical acclaim in 2007.

Richard plays a cello by Francesco Rugeri, dated 1692.