Praised by Gramophone for his “captivating sensitivity” and “exhilarating authority,” Australian cellist Richard Narroway enjoys an international career as a performer, recording artist, and educator. He has appeared in leading venues across Australia, North America, Europe, and Asia, including the Kennedy Center, Chicago Symphony Center, Koerner Hall, and the Sydney Opera House. Recognised for his stylistic versatility, innovative programming, and wide-ranging musical pursuits, Richard has earned an international reputation as one of his generation’s most compelling artists.
Richard made his recording debut in 2017 with Bach’s Six Cello Suites, released to international acclaim. Gramophone described the recording as “riveting…an adventure in expressive possibility.” Since its release, the album has been streamed well over a million times and continues to resonate with audiences worldwide. His second album, Requiem, comprising a diverse collection of Australian cello works, also received stellar reviews from the press, described by Limelight Magazine in a five-star review as “relentlessly stunning.” Other recent highlights include a performance of Tchaikovsky’s Rococo Variations with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, before an enthusiastic audience of thousands at the Sidney Myer Music Bowl in 2023; and a recital of the complete Piatti Caprices at the Sala Piatti, a historic venue in the composer’s hometown of Bergamo, Italy.
A laureate of major competitions, Richard has won top prizes at the Stulberg International String Competition, the Beijing International Cello Competition, and the Australian Youth Classical Music Competition. In 2020 he was named the winner of The Music Trust’s Freedman Classical Fellowship, awarded annually to an exceptional instrumentalist. Richard earned degrees from the Juilliard School and Northwestern University’s Bienen School of Music, before completing a Doctorate at the University of Michigan, where he also served as teaching assistant. Currently, Richard is Lecturer in Music and Head of Cello Studies at the prestigious Melbourne Conservatorium of Music, University of Melbourne.
Aside from the cello, Richard is also an avid runner and endurance enthusiast.
Media Quotes
“These suites are basic love bugs for me and for most cellists. Clearly they affect young Australian Richard Narroway in a similar way. He plays them in a warm fashion that recalls to me the close-up involvement that Pablo Casals brought to them in his recording back in the 1930s. Narroway is also aware of early music style and uses little vibrato, making his handling of chordal passages clean and clear; yet his sensitive use of rubato gives the music a very emotionally satisfying feeling” – David W Moore American Record Guide, January 2018
“He draws out the exquisite melancholy of the minor suites (No 2 and No 5) without deteriorating into mawkishness, and dives into the fiendishly tricky Suite No 6 in D with absolute glee.” – Paul Ballam-Cross Limelight Magazine, January 2018
“The Australian cellist Richard Narroway avoids extremes on his new disc of the six suites and in doing so contributes an individual and riveting account to the long list of distinguished takes on some of Bach’s most personal ideas. Narroway plays the suites on a modern cello, even as he reveals a keen grasp of historical performance practices. He uses vibrato only to colour certain notes, allowing much of the music to emerge with understated grandeur. Every movement comes across as an adventure in expressive possibility. Narroway builds and connects phrases in ways that point out the endless implications of the music, whether Bach’s dances move on the tips of their feet or probe philosophical corners. The cello is a messenger of exhilarating and pensive authority in Narroway’s hands. Rhythms crackle with energy and clarity when the music suggests these qualities. In the longest phrases, Narroway maintains a fine balance between tension and release, which has the effect of keeping the listener eager to hear what will happen next. The cellist rises to greatest heights in the sarabandes, especially in the Third Suite, where the music—at once grave and noble—requires a kind of mature patience that challenges every interpreter, regardless of age or approach. Narroway, only in his mid-twenties, honours Bach with artistry of captivating sensitivity.” – Donald Rosenberg Gramophone, November 2017
“Narroway has a lovely rich sound that never overwhelms, with beautiful phrasing and a fine rhythmic sense that is given room to breathe and expand. It’s all bursting with life and sounds quite effortless” – Terry Robbins The WholeNote, October 2017
“Narroway’s tempos are carefully chosen, his reduced use of vibrato is admirable, his handling of ornamentation is intelligent and aware, and his overall interpretation of the suites’ movement sequences is carefully managed and creates a satisfying arc for each of the works. …there is something refreshing in hearing a performer who uses a modern instrument but does so with so much sensitivity to the nuances of the time when this music was created. …the grandeur of this music makes it common for people to own multiple recordings, and Narroway’s is certainly intriguing enough to become a thought-provoking supplement to whatever an individual’s primary preference may be.”- Mark Estren Infodad.com, September 2017
“Look up Johann Sebastian Bach Cello Suites on line and you shall find dozens of recordings, most of them very good. Here we have not merely another fine one, but a very fine one by an immensely gifted young musician soon fit to keep company with some of the greats that preceded him.” – Rafael de Acha Rafael’s Music Notes, September 2017
