Dr. Richards will sponsor four young pianists to attend the Semaine Internationale de Piano an international masterclass and chamber music festival in Blonay, Switzerland in August 2024:

The following pianists were chosen to attend the masterclasses:

• Benjamin Carter (Wellington)
• Benjamin Kennedy (Wellington)
• Ethan Rawhiti-Hotter (Wellington)
• Samuel Jeon (Sydney)

Dr. Richards is sponsored the participation of Alexander McFarlane in the Yellow Barn Festival. Alexander was one of a select group of international musicians invited to take part in this prestigious and intensive five-week chamber music festival.

To celebrate, Dr, Richards, Moon Won Gyu, and the NZSO held an evening soiree on June 13th. The evening featured a short performance by Alexander and provided an opportunity to connect with other NZSO supporters and staff.

Dr. Richards is sponsoring the participation of 4 young pianists in Semaine Internationale de Piano an international master class and chamber music festival in Blonay Switzerland in August 2023:

• William Berry (Wellington)
• Otis Prescot-Mason (Wellington)
• Lxin Zhang (Christchurch/Los Angeles)
• Annie Ma (Sydney)

Dr. Richards with participants, judges and prize winners in the National Classical Guitar Competition in December 2022, an event which Dr. Richards sponsors

• 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

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 6^th, Piano recital by Tony Chen at St Andrew’s Church, Wellington
• October 20^th, all Chopin recital by Lixin Zhang at St Andrews Church, Wellington.

A series of house concerts were also organized at Tiromoana in Gisborne:

• August 30^th: Piano recital by Nicholas Kovacev.
• September 6^th: Recital by Will King (baritone) and Nicholas Kovacev at Tiromoana
• October 20^th: Piano recital by Liam Furey
• November 22^nd: 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)

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.

Listen to the full interview here.

Dr Richards is sponsoring the following concerts to be held in the Tairawhiti Museum in 2020.

• 9 August 2020
  Jazz Duo
• 13 September 2020
  Seven Inspiring Young Singers from Napier’s Project Prima Volta
• 18th October 2020
  Operatic Voices
• 8th November 2020
  Classical Guitar Duo

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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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!