Richard Jenkinson, cello

Richard Jenkinson was born in 1971 and started to play the cello at the age of five. At the age of 12 he was awarded a music scholarship by Derbyshire County Council, this allowed him to study with Florence Hooton and after her sudden death in 1988 he continued his studies with William Pleeth. In 1990 he was awarded a scholarship to the Guildhall School of Music & Drama where he studied cello and conducting.  His cello studies were jointly with William Pleeth and Raphael Wallfisch, whilst his conducting studies were with Alan Hazeldine. In 1994 Richard was the recipient of the Guildhall’s coveted Gold Medal and in the same year won a top prize in the Vittorio Gui Competition in Florence, Italy. A period of further study included Aldo Parrisot, Josef Figelshen and Yfrah Neaman. In 1995 Richard was appointed Principal ‘cello with Irish Chamber Orchestra and during his three years performed concertos by Boccherini, both Haydn concertos as well as concertos by Vivaldi and Lutoslawski. In 1998 Richard was appointed principal cello with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra

Whilst with the CBSO Richard has tried to balance his activities with the orchestra with substantial work as a chamber musician and also soloist. These activities have included founding a string Chamber Ensemble who have played (since their formation in September 2002) at the Wigmore Hall, London, recorded it’s first CD which was Classic FM’s CD of the week and also has been featured and broadcast on BBC Radio 3, a further documentary appeared on BBC 4. Richard has also played recitals at venues around the country including Wigmore Hall, South Bank, St John’s Smith Square and played concertos in South Bank, London Hippodrome (BBC Concert), Barbican, Blackheath, Symphony Hall, Birmingham (CBSO) as well as with orchestras in Derby, Sheffield, Exeter, Essex Worcester and Kent. Solo cello concerts have included the complete Bach Suites at St James, Piccadilly and St John’s Smith Square London, Birmingham’s Ikon Gallery (broadcast on BBC 4), Gloucestershire, Shropshire, Scotland and Wales. Following performances in Malta of works by Bach, Britten, Camillieri and Kodaly a recording was made and is now set for release. Other recordings include Sonatas and Variations by Martinu, Cello works by Czeslav Marek for Koch International and String Trios by Berkley, Dohnanyi and Guildfoyle. 

Richard is also in demand as a guest section leader with orchestras including the Halle, Royal Liverpool, Northern Sinfonia (Prom, recordings and 3 tours), Orchestra of the Swan and BBC Scottish (2 tours, 2 CD recordings) orchestras. Richard organizes the CBSO Centre Stage Series and also is founding member of the Frith Piano Quartet who perform around 25 concerts per season and have broadcast on BBC Radio 3.

www.richardjenkinson.com

 

Performances with the Corinthian Chamber Orchestra