Christoph Richter, cello

Christoph Richter is one of the most sought after musicians in Europe, regularly performing with artists such as András Schiff, Isabelle Faust, Alexander Lonquich, Heinz Holliger and many others.  After his studies with André Navarra and Pierre Fournier he won prizes at international competitions, and now plays as soloist with many leading orchestras.  He is frequently invited to international festivals, including Ittingen, Risor and Salzburg where he premiered “Introduction, Theme and Variations” for cello and orchestra by Henze. His strong interest in contemporary music has led him to work with composers such as Penderecki, Kurtág, Henze, Lachenmann, Holliger, Reimann and Widmann.  In 2011 he was artistic director of a festival in London, which honoured the composer, oboist and conductor Heinz Holliger.

Amongst his many recordings are works by Schumann and Holliger for ECM, concertos by Klengel for cpo, the Divertimento KV 563 by Mozart with Henning Kraggerud and Lars Anders Tomter for Naxos and the Brahms Sextet op.36 with Isabelle Faust and others for Harmonia Mundi, which received the Diapason D’Or.

It was his close collaboration with Sandor Végh which led him to a life long passion for chamber music, and particularly string quartet.  He joined the Cherubini Quartet with whom he performed in all the major concert halls around the world.  With the pianist András Schiff he performs sonatas, piano trios, quartets and quintets, and he is principal cellist of his chamber orchestra Cappella Andrea Barca since its foundation in 1999.  This ensemble appears annually at the Mozartwoche in Salzburg and the Teatro Olimpico in Vicenza and gives concerts all over the world (New York, Vienna, Zurich, Brussels, Geneva, Luxemburg and other cities).

Christoph Richter is professor of cello at the Folkwang University of the arts in Essen (Germany), gives regular masterclasses at the Royal Academy of Music in London and  teaches chamber music at the European Chamber Music Academy, ChamberStudio in London and in Aldeburgh.  He is frequently invited as a jury member for international competitions including the Haydn competition in Vienna, the Joachim competition in Weimar, the London String Quartet Competition (2009 and 2012) and the Trondheim Competition in Norway.