Richard Birchall read Music at Cambridge University (studying composition with Giles Swayne) and then studied as a postgraduate cellist at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London, under Louise Hopkins.
Richard pursues a varied and colourful career as cellist, composer, arranger, and lyricist. As a member of the Philharmonia Orchestra he performs regularly in the great concert halls of the world; he has also appeared as Guest Principal cello with the Northern Sinfonia and Irish Chamber Orchestra, and as concertmaster of the London Cello Orchestra. Richard’s solo and chamber work has ranged from Wigmore Hall to the catwalk at London Fashion Week. He is cellist of the Minerva Piano Trio and a founder member of Cellophony Cello Octet, an ensemble of eight cellists that have performed throughout the UK, in Europe, and as far afield as South Korea. Cellophony have recently signed to Edition Records, releasing their first CD album ‘Vibrez’ to great critical acclaim.
Richard has completed numerous transcriptions for Cellophony’s core repertoire, and also produced commissioned arrangements for the Doric, Barbirolli, and Tippett quartets (including Psycho Suite, subsequently released on the Signum label), the London Cello Orchestra and the Ernest Read Symphony Orchestra. In recent years Richard has turned increasingly to original composition. His piece Mirrors was written for Cellophony and premiered in the Park Lane Group series at the Purcell Room in January 2011; since then he has completed various works for chamber ensembles, following commissions by the Minerva Trio, the Piatti Quartet, and from individual artists. Future projects include a concerto for cello and chamber orchestra, to be premiered by Philharmonia Principal Cello Timothy Walden.
Below you will find the complete list of scores edited by Richard Birchall.
’ to great critical acclaim.