The official website of educator Jack C Richards

Tony Chen Lin & Long Nguyen at Tiromoana

A recital in Gisborne on the 3rd July 2022 by pianist Tony Chen Lin and bassoonist Long Nguyen:

WEBER Bassoon Concerto in F major, Op.75
SCHUMANN Kreisleriana Op.16
ELGAR Romance for Bassoon and Piano, Op.62
TANSMAN Suite for Bassoon and Piano

New Series of Professional Books

Professor Richards has been invited to contribute to a new series of practical professional books for teachers of English in China. The series is being published by Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press, the educational publishing division of Beijing University of Foreign Studies and the largest university press in China. The series editors for the books are Professor Guoxing Yu (Bristol University) and Professor Peter Gu (Victoria University, Wellington). The title and contents of Professor Richards’ book are:

Continue reading

Support for Cultural Activities

Jack Richards is an active supporter of musical and cultural initiatives and activities in New Zealand. In 2014 he received the prestigious Award for Patronage 2014, by the Arts Foundation of New Zealand, acknowledging his support for music and the arts.

Past and current support includes;

  • Benefactor of the National Music Centre, to be built in Wellington
  • Patron and sponsor of the New Zealand National Guitar Competition
  • Grants to the Kiri Te Kanawa Foundation to support young New Zealand opera singers
  • Co-sponsor of the Composer in Residence Program at the New Zealand School of Music
  • Provision of travel scholarships for semi-finalists in the Chamber Music New Zealand School Chamber Music Competition
  • Sponsor of three CDs by New Zealand musicians – Tony Chen Lin, Lixin Zhang and Tony Yan Tong Chen
  • Sponsored book on the life of composer Jack Body
  • Numerous commissions for New Zealand composers, including Jack Body, Jenny McLeod, John Psathas
  • Commissioning of piano concertos by Gareth Farr, Lyell Cresswell, and Gao Ping which were performed by the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra
  • Scholarships and financial support for students in the New Zealand School of Music and in the School of Applied Language Studies, Victoria University
  • Financing for the production of a video of Jenny Macleod’s opera “Hohepa”
  • Sponsorship of participation by young New Zealand musicians in the Edith Fischer Academy, Blonay Switzerland
  • Provision of scholarships for students enrolled in the Toihokura program in contemporary Maori Art, Gisborne
  • Initiation of the Ruanuku Award for excellent in contemporary Maori Art, enabling the Tairāwhiti Museum to acquire a major collection of art by local artists
  • Support for the Tairāwhiti Arts Festival, Gisborne
  • Purchase of works by local and national artists for the collection of Tairāwhiti Museum
  • Funding of an award in the Te Ha Art Awards competition at Tairāwhiti museum
  • Funding of improvements to the Tairāwhiti Museum
  • Funding of a new gallery at the Tairāwhiti Museum – the Jack C Richards Decorative Arts Gallery – the only gallery of its kind in any New Zealand Museum
  • Grant to support upgrades at Whangara Marae
  • The major private sponsor for renovations of the Toko Toru Tapu Church at Manutuke – one of the most important buildings of its kind in New Zealand due to the significance of its carved panels
  • One of the major private sponsors of renovations to the Gisborne War Memorial Theater
  • Grants to support the local chapter of Chamber Music New Zealand
  • Commissioning of art pieces by Gisborne artists for installation in the Gisborne War Memorial Theater
  • Significant contributor to renovations to the Dawson Field Theater, Gisborne
  • Patron and major sponsor of the Gisborne International Music Competition
  • Sponsor of a series of annual summer concerts in support of the Gisborne International Music Competition
  • Sponsor a series of winter concerts in the Tairāwhiti Museum, Gisborne, featuring student musicians from the New Zealand School of Music.
  • Commissioning of sculptures for public spaces in Gisborne

Closing the Jack C Richards Decorative Arts Gallery

The reasoning behind my decision to close down the Jack C Richards Decorative Arts Gallery at The Tairāwhiti Museum, Gisborne

 On 23 December 2011 the Museum and I signed an agreement that the museum trust would build an extension, to be known as ‘the Richards Gallery’ to be funded by Jack Richards at a cost of some $350,000.

The agreement stated that the gallery would primarily be used for the purpose of housing and displaying objects on loan from Jack Richards’ collection, but also items from the Museum’s own collection and touring exhibitions. The agreement also specified that items from the Richards collection would be displayed in a different section of the gallery from items from the museum collection. The MOU states:

“The museum may exhibit items other than Jack Richards collection for up to four months each year in the general exhibition component of the gallery”.

Continue reading

Sponsored Activities in Support of Music and the Arts 2021

  • January: Recitals by Samuel Woosol Jeon – 17 yrs old (piano) & Christine Yesol Jeon – 13 yrs old (cello) at Tiromoana.
  • March: Piano recital by Lixin Zhang, at Waikato University, Hamilton.
  • April: Piano recital by Tony Yan Tong Chen at Tiromoana.
  • April: Piano recital by Jian Liu at Tiromoana.
  • July: Vocal recital by William King (baritone) at Tiromoana.
  • July: Concert by students from the Waikato University School of Music – at Tairawhiti Museum, Gisborne
  • Further events to be confirmed

Other activities:

  • Scholarships for students in the Toihokura Program in Contemporary Maori Arts
  • Patron of the Gisborne International Music Competition                                  
  • Support for the Tairawhiti Arts Festival 2021
  • Grant to the Kiri Te Kanawa Foundation to support New Zealand musicians
  • Sponsorship of a CD to be recorded by pianist Tony Yan Tong Chen for Rattle Records
  • Jack C Richards Travel Scholarship, provided to all finalists in the Chamber Music New Zealand School Chamber Music Competition

Activities in Support of Musicians

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)

Concerts in support of the Gisborne International Music Competition 2019/2020

Dr. Richards sponsored a number of fundraising concerts over the New Zealand summer.

On December 15th 2019 at the Lawson Field Theater in Gisborne three outstanding  New Zealand pianists Maria Mo, Lixin Zhang and Tony Tay Tong Chen performed at three concerts:

  • Concert 1:  With music by Ravel, Albeniz, Manuel de Falla, Granados, Marquez
  • Concert 2: With music by Brahms (the complete waltzes), Beethoven, Schubert, and Chopin
  • Concert 3: With music by Berg, Scriabin, Janacek Prokofiev, and Psathas

 On Sunday January 26th 2020 Baritone William King with associate artist Bruce Greenfield (piano) presented the following programme at Tiromoana:

  • Kaddisch — Ravel
  • Dichterliebe — Schumann
  • Silent Noon — Vaughan Williams
  • King David — Howells
  • Rivolgete a lui lo sguardo — Mozart, Cosi Fan tutte

On Sunday February 9th  2020 Sydney pianist Paul Cheung played at Tiromoana. His programme was:

  • F. Chopin The complete Preludes Op. 28
  • F. Kreisler (arr. S. Rachmaninoff) Liebesleid
  • S. Rachmaninoff Sonata No. 2 in Bb minor, Op. 36

Celebrations at City University in Hong Kong

Professor Richards was the guest of honor at celebrations in October 2019 at City University in Hong Kong to mark the 30th anniversary of the Department of English. Professor Richards was the first head of the department.

During his visit Professor Richards gave a public lecture and also sponsored a piano recital by Australian pianist Tony Lee and New Zealand pianist Lixin Zhang.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Confirmed Presentations in 2019

March 8-10, 2019:

  • Kongu Engineering University, Tamil Nadu, India. Lecture series sponsored by the Department of English

March 13, 2019:

  • Product and Process in Program Evaluation. Paper presented at RELC Conference, Singapore

May 3, 2019:

  • Developing a college English Coursebook series for Chinese University Students.
  • Lecture: Victoria University, Wellington New Zealand

May 25, 2019:

  • Plenary address: KOTESOL Conference, Jeonju, South Korea

July 2019:

  • Teaching in the Diploma in Applied Linguistics Program, RELC Singapore

July 29, 2019:

  • Plenary address: International Conference on language teaching. Yogyakarta, Indonesia

Sponsorship for young New Zealand pianists

Dr, Richards provides support for young New Zealand pianists to study at musical academies in Spain and Switzerland:

Valencia, Spain: July 2019 – Lixin Zhang & Tony Yan Tong Chen

Blonay, Switzerland: August 2019 – Lixin Zhang, Delvan Lin, Tony Yan Tong Chen, Lorelle McNaughton and Ashani Waidyatillake

New Series of Practical Booklets for Teachers

Dr Richards and his colleague at the Regional Language Centre, Singapore - Dr  Marie Yeo - are editing a new series of practical low cost booklets for teachers and teacher trainers.

The first three titles in the new series are now available, and include one by Dr Richards called Planning a Language Course: Principles and Procedures.

NPS 1

NPS 2

NPS 3

Professor at the top of his game

Gisborne’s Professor Jack Richards has been named one of the 50 most influential language teaching specialists in the world — and the only Kiwi. Reporter Kim Parkinson meets the man known for his generosity in supporting the arts, at his summer home Tiromoana in Okitu.

Read the rest of the Gisborne Herald article here.