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!
Jack Sponsors New Zealand Tour by Two Distinguished Latin-American Pianists
In February and March 2017 Jack Richards sponsored a series of New Zealand concerts by EDITH FISCHER – pianist and protégé of Claudio Arrau and Founder and Artistic Director of Semaine Internationale de Piano et Musique de Chambre, Blonay, Switzerland, and her husband JORGE PEPI-ALOS – pianist and composer Professor at the University of Chile, Santiago. Their visit included a piano recital for four-hands as part of the Tiromoana Summer Concert Series (held in Jack and Won Gyu Moon’s New Zealand summer residence) as well as a recital as part of the Creative New Zealand/Jack C Richards Composer in Residence Program at Victoria University, Wellington.
In the photo Jack is seen with Edith and Jorge following their Christchurch recital, and together with Christchurch pianist Tony Chen Lin, who accompanied the musicians on their New Zealand tour.
Ao Ran (Ph.D) & Miller Perez (MA, Applied Linguistics)
Two students who received Jack C Richards scholarships to support their graduate studies graduated from the National University of Singapore in July 26 2016.
Ao Ran (Ph.D) and Miller Perez (MA, Applied Linguistics)
Ting Chia Hsu wins in France
Taiwanese-born pianist Ting Chia Hsu 
– currently studying at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music – has won first prize in the International Piano Competition Teresa Llacuna in Valence France, held in April 2014.
His participation in the competition was sponsored by Jack Richards.
Rural Teachers Attend CamTESOL
Jack sponsored ten Cambodian teachers from rural schools to attend the 12th annual CamTESOL conference in February 2016.
Joshua Han wins two prizes in Aarhus
Jack’s 12 year old piano protégé Joshua Han won his second international young pianist’s competition in less than a year, winning both the Category A 1st Prize as well as the Audience Prize at the prestigious Aarhus International Piano Competition for young pianists in Denmark in March 2015. In August 2014 Joshua won the first prize in the Ettlingen International Competition for Young Pianists, in Ettlingen, Germany.
Josh and his family were guests at Jack’s New Zealand summer house in January 2015, and Josh and his brother Oscar – a very talented violinist – performed at a charity concert in Gisborne.
Second performance of Farr piano concerto
The piano concerto commissioned by Jack from New Zealand composer Gareth Farr in 2014, had a repeat performance on April 1 2015.
Pianist Tony Lee returned to perform the concerto with the BBC Symphony Orchestra in London.
Tairawhiti Museum Free Concerts
Jack Richards is sponsoring an annual series of afternoon recitals in the Tairawhiti Museum in Gisborne, featuring student performers from the New Zealand School of Music.
There will be six concerts scheduled throughout the year. These will be free events for Gisborne residents and are intended both to showcase the talents of NZSM students as well as to help expand the community outreach of the museum.
Gao Ping Trio Commission
Following the enthusiastic reception of the piece for bassoon and piano Jack commissioned from Chinese composer Gao Ping, Jack has commissioned a further piece – a trio for piano, flute and bassoon. You can hear the bassoon and piano piece played on Saturday Jan 10th 2015 during the Tiromoana Summer Concert Series here.
Classical Guitar Competition Sponsorship
Dr Richards is principal sponsor for the New Zealand Classical Guitar Competition, held at the New Zealand School of Music in Wellington.
Find out more here.
Award for Patronage
Dr. Richards has been awarded the Award for Patronage 2014, by the Arts Foundation of New Zealand, acknowledging his support for music and the arts. Read more here.
Toko Toru Tapu Church
Dr Richards supports the restoration of the Toko Toru Tapu Church at Manutuke near Gisborne. The church combines the external look of a colonial church with a Māori carved timber interior featuring carved and painted panels. It was built in 1913, replacing an earlier church on the same site.
You can read more about the project here and here and get updates here.
Oscar & Joshua Han
Young musicians Oscar and Joshua Han – finalists in Australia’s Got Talent – are being supported by Jack Richards in the Rising Stars Progamme at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music.
Jack Richards commissioned a violin for Oscar. Click here to see a video on the making of the violin.