Dr. Richards was active in support of musicians and cultural activities in 2020. Primary among these activities were:
- Sponsorship of piano recitals by two New Zealand musicians whose studies overseas were disrupted due to the Corona Virus
- September 6th, Piano recital by Tony Chen at St Andrew’s Church, Wellington
- October 20th, all Chopin recital by Lixin Zhang at St Andrews Church, Wellington.
A series of house concerts were also organized at Tiromoana in Gisborne:
- August 30th: Piano recital by Nicholas Kovacev.
- September 6th: Recital by Will King (baritone) and Nicholas Kovacev at Tiromoana
- October 20th: Piano recital by Liam Furey
- November 22nd: Pianist Ya-Ting Liou performed Beethoven’s Diabelli Variatios
Support for other cultural activities included:
- Support for the Tairawhiti Arts Fair, Gisborne (October)
- Support for renovations of the kitchen at Tairawhiti Museum, Gisborne
- Support for the Gisborne International Music Competition (November)
- Grant to the Kiri Te Kanawa Foundation to support New Zealand musicians in the UK
- Sponsorship of a concert to honour New Zealand composer John Psathias (December)
- Sponsorship of the New Zealand Classical Guitar Competition (December)
- Sponsorship of a CD to be recorded by Tony Chen for Rattle Records (December)