
Dr. Richards with participants, judges and prize winners in the National Classical Guitar Competition in December 2022, an event which Dr. Richards sponsors
Dr. Richards with participants, judges and prize winners in the National Classical Guitar Competition in December 2022, an event which Dr. Richards sponsors
Piano recitals by 4 student pianists to be held at Dr. Richards Gisborne residence in July, August, September and October 2022 featuring Tony Yan Tong Chen, Ben Kennedy, William Perry and Otis Prescott Mason.
Dr. Richards is sponsoring piano students Otis Prescott Mason and William Perry to participate in master classes at the festival de la Semaine Internationale de Piano in Blonay, Switzerland in August 2022.
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
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;
In May Dr. Richards spoke at an event to mark the restoration of a pipe organ built by Dr. Richards’ uncle William Croft, at St Andrew’s Church, Wellington.
For a note on the organ building company founded by Jack’s grandfather, please read on:
Continue reading →Dr. Richards was active in support of musicians and cultural activities in 2020. Primary among these activities were:
A series of house concerts were also organized at Tiromoana in Gisborne:
Support for other cultural activities included:
In an interview with Radio New Zealand, Dr Richards spoke about how he first became involved in sponsoring the arts, and stressed the importance of supporting artists.
Dr Richards is sponsoring the following concerts to be held in the Tairawhiti Museum in 2020.
For more information, please see the Tairawhiti Museum Concerts 2020 page.
Dr. Richards is patron of the Gisborne International Music Competition, an annual competition for players of orchestral instruments.
2019 was the 30th anniversary of the competition, which featured outstanding young musicians from New Zealand, Australia, the US and Singapore.
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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:
On Sunday January 26th 2020 Baritone William King with associate artist Bruce Greenfield (piano) presented the following programme at Tiromoana:
On Sunday February 9th 2020 Sydney pianist Paul Cheung played at Tiromoana. His programme was:
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.
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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
Pianist Lixin Zhang from Christchurch New Zealand has launched his new CD – Play – with the support of Professor Richards.
It’s been recently announced that Play has recently taken the number one spot on the RNZ Classical Chart. Congratulations Lixin!
Follow this link to buy his CD from RATTLE Records.
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Jack Richards has sponsored a debut CD – Digressions – by pianist Tony Chen Lin (New Zealand/Germany). The CD contains Tony’s performance of Bartók’s Piano Sonata, Bach’s French Suite No.5, Schumann’s Humoreske and Tony’s own composition Digression (Meditation on R.S.). The CD is produced by the New Zealand music label Rattle.
The CD was launched at a reception at Jack’s Wellington apartment on April 7 2018.
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In April 2018 Jack Richards sponsored a series of concerts in New Zealand by Singapore violinist Jun Hong Loh (winner of the 2015 Gisborne International Music Competition) and pianist Tony Chen Lin. Their program consisted of music by Mozart, Gao Ping, and Grieg.
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Jack Richards is now offering travel support to all competitors who reach the finals in the New Zealand Chamber Music Competition, an annual competition for school chamber music groups that attracts over 500 entrants every year.
Some 40 make their way to the national finals that are held either in Wellington, Auckland or Christchurch and all will now receive a Jack Richards travel grant.
Lixin Zhang, one of Dr. Richards’ sponsored young pianists, has won first place in the prestigious Wallace National Piano Competition.
Here is a video of his final performance. Well done!