London-born into a family of string quartet players, Richard is one of the UKâs leading chamber musicians and has been a regular performer at Londonâs Wigmore Hall, South Bank Centre, Kings Place, and at all of the major chamber music venues across Europe. He has performed alongside many great international artists and was a member of the world-renowned Chilingirian Quartet until 2010.
Richard studied with Eli Goren and then with Shmuel Ashkenasi in the USA. He became Teaching Assistant to Shmuel Ashkenasi and lived and taught in the USA for three years. Back in the UK, Richard was Professor of Violin at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester for 13 years and also taught talented young violin students at Wells Cathedral School, one of the UKâs specialist music schools, over the same period. As a member of the Chilingirian Quartet he was Professor of Chamber Music at the Royal College of Music, and from 2014 he is Professor of Violin at the Royal Academy of Music.
Outside the UK, Richard is on the faculty of the International Summer Academy of Chamber Music in Germany, has been Artist in Residence at Musica Mundi in Belgium, and is a guest Professor at the Netherlands String Quartet Academy. He is a Visiting Professor for the Chamber Music in Residence series at Aldeburgh Music, and is regularly on the jury for International as well as UK competitions.
In 2010, Richard founded and is now Artistic Director of ChamberStudio at Kings Place in London, which has proved a revolutionising force for ensemble playing in the UK, providing high-level masterclasses and support to professional chamber groups in the fragile early stages of their careers.
Richard is one of the most sought after violin teachers in the UK attracting students internationally. In recognition of his teaching and the work he has done creating ChamberStudio, Richard was awarded the 2104 Cobbett Medal by the Worshipful Company of Musicians. Previous recipients include Yehudi Menuhin, Gerald Moore, Emanuel Hurwitz, Hugh Maguire, Dame Myra Hess, and even Sir Edward Elgar in 1928!