Richard Harwood named principal cello at the Academy of St Martin in the Fields

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British cellist Richard Harwood has been appointed principal cello at the Academy of St Martin of the Fields (ASMF). In the role, he will play for the majority of the orchestra’s over 85 concerts annually. He will also play in the ASMF Chamber Ensemble.

About the appointment, Harwood said: ’I couldn’t be more delighted to be joining the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields. It’s a chamber orchestra I grew up listening to, not least when I was a student of Heinrich Schiff, who recorded the Haydn Concerti with the ASMF and Neville Marriner.  It wasn’t until my trial started that I had the opportunity to play as part of the orchestra and what a dream that was.’

Joshua Bell, music director of the ASMF, said: ’I have greatly enjoyed making music with Richard Harwood during the appointment process for the important position of principal cello in our orchestra.  As a soloist, chamber musician and orchestral player, Richard embodies the engaging and dynamic way for which the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields strives, and I eagerly look forward to Richard’s contributions on the upcoming tours in the U.K. and around the world.’

Harwood was previously principal cellist at the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra since 2018, as well as the John Wilson Orchestra. He also regularly played as a guest principal at the Royal Opera House, London Symphony, London Philharmonic, BBC Symphony, BBC NOW and RTÉ Concert orchestras.

Harwood was a student of Joan Dickson, Steven Doane, David Waterman, Heinrich Schiff and Ralph Kirshbaum, and throughout his education took masterclasses and lessons with Mstislav Rostropovich, János Starker, Steven Isserlis, Boris Pergamenschikow, Miklós Perényi, Bernard Greenhouse and William Pleeth. In 1992, he became the youngest ever winner of the Audi Junior Musician Award. In 2004 he won the Pierre Fournier Award and became the first British laureate of the International Johann Sebastian Bach Competition in Leipzig. A year later, he received the ’mention’ prize from the jury at the Rostropovich Competition in Paris. 

As a soloist, Harwood has worked with conductors such as Mark Wigglesworth, Vasily Petrenko, Case Scaglione, Stanislav Kochanovsky, Okko Kamu, and Yehudi Menuhin, and recorded with Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, RTÉ NSO, Auckland Philharmonia and Ural Philharmonic. He made his concerto debut at the age of ten, and has since performed in venues such as the Royal Albert Hall, Wigmore Hall, Carnegie Hall, Suntory Hall, NCPA Beijing, Musikverein, Concertgebouw and Alte Oper.

Harwood was the cellist of the Sitkovetsky Trio from 2014 to 2016, and as a chamber musician has collaborated with the Jerusalem and Endellion Quartets and Joshua Bell, Gidon Kremer, Ilya Gringolts, Pekka Kuusisto, Vilde Frang, Yuri Bashmet, Benjamin Schmid, Alena Baeva, Peter Donohoe and Julius Drake, among others. 

He was appointed professor of cello at London’s Royal College of Music in September 2024 and has given masterclasses in in the US, Singapore, Austria, Manchester, Cardiff, Birmingham and Dublin. He also teaches at various summer courses. 

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