Since his critically acclaimed concerto debut at the age of ten, the award-winning English 'cellist Richard Harwood has performed concerti and chamber music in major venues including London's Royal Albert Hall, all of the South Bank Centre venues, Wigmore Hall, Musikverein (Vienna), Concertgebouw (Amsterdam), Alte Oper (Frankfurt), Thomaskirche (Leipzig), Auditorium du Louvre (Paris) and Alice Tully Hall / Lincoln Center (New York).
As concerto soloist, Richard has collaborated with conductors such as Case Scaglione, John Wilson, Okko Kamu, Marko Letonja, Douglas Bostock, En Shao, Shuntaro Sato and Yehudi Menuhin, and with numerous orchestras including The Philharmonia, Royal Philharmonic, Bournemouth Symphony, RTÉ National Symphony, RTÉ Concert, 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, Alena Baeva, Ilya Gringolts, Pekka Kuusisto, Vilde Frang, Chen Halevi, Julian Bliss, Martin Roscoe, Peter Donohoe, Finghin Collins, Gottlieb Wallisch and Julius Drake, among others. Richard was the cellist of the Sitkovetsky Trio from 2014-2016.
Richard's discography includes a critically acclaimed debut disc for EMI Classics, recorded with pianist Christoph Berner, and Composing Without The Picture, a 2013 solo album of concert works written by film composers, on Resonus. Richard's recording of Christopher Gunning's Cello Concerto with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra was released in 2016. In addition, Richard can be seen and heard in Phil Grabsky's 2009 documentary In Search of Beethoven.
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 plays a 'cello by Francesco Rugeri, dated 1692.