Richard’s musical education began at the age of five when he started to play the 'cello and was awarded a scholarship by Derbyshire County Council to study with Florence Hooton and William Pleeth.
Whilst in the sixth form, Richard began his conducting studies with Michael Salter at Repton School. In 1990 he won a scholarship to the Guildhall School of Music & Drama, studying ‘cello with Raphael Wallfisch and William Pleeth and conducting with Alan Hazeldine.
He graduated with Distinction in 1994 and was awarded the Guildhall's coveted Gold Medal for a performance of the Dvořák ‘Cello Concerto in the Barbican.
RICHARD JENKINSON
In 1995 he was awarded a top prize at the Vittorio Gui Chamber Music Competition in Italy and was invited to be part of the Countess of Munster recital scheme. This has led to a very productive partnership with the pianist Benjamin Frith, including recitals at London's Wigmore Hall and South Bank Centre and several recordings. Richard has given concerto performances with the BBC Concert Orchestra, C.B.S.O., Irish Chamber Orchestra and Venezuelan Symphony and has performed the Elgar Concerto in the Queen Elizabeth Hall in London and the Dvořák Concerto in the Dvořák Hall of the Rudolfinum in Prague. In 1995 Richard became principal 'cello with the Irish Chamber Orchestra and from 1998-2016 he was principal ‘cello with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra. He has acted as guest principal for BBC Scottish, English Symphony, Halle, London Concert, Opera North, Orchestra of the Swan, Philharmonia, Royal Northern Sinfonia and Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestras. In May 2012 Richard joined the Dante String Quartet and has performed at the Wigmore Hall, King’s Place and also given several live BBC Radio 3 broadcasts. The quartet’s ‘Beethoven journey’ was also featured on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme. As the cellist of the Dante Quartet he has recorded Kodály’s String Quartets for Hyperion, Herbert Howells Quartets for Naxos and Stanford’s Complete String Quartets on the Somm label. The quartet has performed several cycles of the complete Beethoven Quartets and toured Japan in 2016. During 2018 the Dante Quartet played a cycle of Shostakovich Quartets and undertook tours of France and Japan. Richard has played concerts with the Allegri and Coull String Quartets and has performed with the Fibonacci Sequence, Michael Collins and the Wigmore Soloists at the Wigmore Hall in 2021. Richard is Musical Director of the British Police Symphony Orchestra and the Orchestra of St John, Bromsgrove. From 2016-19 he was Music Director of the orchestra and choir of the G.K.T. Music Society at King's College, London and, since September 2017, has been conductor of the Worcestershire Youth Orchestra. He has recently conducted cycles of the complete Beethoven Symphonies and Piano Concertos culminating with the Ninth Symphony in Worcester Cathedral. Concerts with the B.P.S.O. have included performances at Coventry, Gloucester, Hereford and Worcester Cathedrals and regular concerts at Beacon Park and Symphony Hall in Birmingham. In May 2019 Richard conducted the B.P.S.O. at the Royal Albert Hall, London in a Gala Concert celebrating the orchestra’s 30th anniversary involving fanfare trumpets, troupes of bagpipers and massed choirs from around the United Kingdom which involved over 600 performers. In 2019 Richard successfully defended his Ph.D. on the music of Zoltán Kodály at the University of Birmingham where he was awarded a Bramall scholarship. During the covid imposed lockdowns of 2020 he utilised the time to gain Grade 8 (in 100 days) and subsequently an ARSM diploma in Singing, which he passed with Distinction. During 2022 performances include Beethoven Triple, Dvořák, Lalo and Stanford (Durham Cathedral) Cello Concertos, cycles of the late Beethoven Quartets and concerts with the Wigmore Soloists. Future performances with the BPSO include Coventry Cathedral, Lichfield, Stafford and Symphony Hall, Birmingham.
