Richard Narroway

This program features three distinct monuments of the solo cello literature, each exploring the instrument's timbral and expressive capabilities in profoundly different ways.  

Bach's beloved Suite No. 3 in C major opens the program, uplifting and extroverted, immersing the listener into a radiant sound world full of joy and warmth.  

Composed well over a century later in 1887, Jean Sibelius’ Theme and Variations in D minor undoubtedly draws from Bach’s influence. The theme itself, however, is unmistakably Finnish-Nordic in flavour, written when he was just 22. 

Closing the program is the colossal Solo Sonata by Zoltan Kodaly, one of the most substantial works in the solo cello repertoire. The lower two strings are tuned down a semitone, completely transforming the sonority and creating a darker and richer tonal landscape. All three movements feature all kinds of virtuosic techniques, transporting the listener into a folk-inspired world of Hungarian dance rhythms, melodies, and sheer bravura.  

Australian cellist Richard Narroway enjoys an international career as a performer, recording artist, and teacher. He has given performances across Australia, North America, Europe, and Asia, in prestigious venues such as the Kennedy Center, Chicago Symphony Center, Koerner Hall, and the Sydney Opera House. Recent highlights have included a feature appearance championing the cello in the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra’s gala “Classic 100: Your Favourite Instrument” concerts in 2023, and a performance of Tchaikovsky’s Rococo Variations before an enthusiastic audience of thousands at the Sidney Myer Music Bowl in Melbourne. 

His debut album of Bach’s unaccompanied Cello Suites was described by Gramophone as “riveting…an adventure in expressive possibility,” with the cello a “messenger of exhilarating and pensive authority in Narroway’s hands.” His most recent solo album, Requiem, released on Australia’s premier label ABC Classics, also received stellar reviews from the press, being described by Limelight Magazine as ""relentlessly stunning."" In addition, Richard has achieved top prizes at several major competitions, including the 2010 Stulberg International String Competition, the Third Beijing International Cello Competition, and the Australian Youth Classical Music Competition. In 2020 he was announced winner of The Music Trust’s Freedman Classical Fellowship, offered to an exceptional instrumentalist annually.  Richard earned degrees from the Juilliard School and Northwestern University's Bienen School of Music, before completing a Doctorate at the University of Michigan, where he also served as teaching assistant. Currently, Richard is Lecturer of Cello at the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music, University of Melbourne.

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