B i o g r a p h y
Richard Gowers is a British pianist. He performs extensively as a song accompanist and chamber pianist, conductor and organist.
In 2017-19 he held a scholarship at the Royal Academy of Music, where he studied with Michael Dussek and Joseph Middleton and won prizes for song accompaniment and chamber music. He has given many performances at Wigmore Hall, most recently in the Maureen Lehane Vocal Awards with Stephanie Wake-Edwards, and the finals of the 2019 Wigmore Hall Song Competition with Kieran Carrel; in April 2019 he took part in Wigmore Hall’s first Liederabend of the works of Carl Loewe with members of the Royal Academy Song Circle. In duo partnership with Kieran Carrel, he was awarded the Schubert Institute UK Prize at Leeds Lieder Festival.
He previously studied at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater 'Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy' Leipzig and Cambridge University, where he was organ scholar at King’s College and graduated with a starred first class degree in Music. With King’s College Choir he performed at the major venues and festivals around the world, including in Aldeburgh, BBC Proms, Concertgebouw, Hong Kong, MDR Musiksommer, Rheingau, Vancouver and tours of the USA and China. His time at King’s culminated in the worldwide broadcast of the 2016 Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols, and the release of his critically acclaimed disc of Messiaen La Nativité du Seigneur, which was a Gramophone ‘Editor’s Choice’.
Richard Gowers is based in London, where he pursues a busy freelance schedule. As well as extensive piano collaborations, he is under demand as a concert organist. Recent performances have included festivals in Toulouse, St Albans, Germany, the USA and Australia, as well as major UK venues. He is active as a chorus accompanist for the BBC Singers, London Symphony Chorus and Philharmonia Chorus; as an ensemble member he has performed with the Academy of Ancient Music, Aurora Orchestra, Britten Sinfonia, City of Birmingham Symphony, King’s Consort, London Philharmonic, OAE, Philharmonia and Royal Philharmonic. He is a keen conductor of choirs and orchestras, and has repetiteured for Hampstead Garden Opera, Waterperry Opera and the Royal Opera House.
Richard teaches at Cambridge University, Tiffin School and Trinity Laban Conservatoire, and is Director of Music at St Saviour’s Church, Pimlico. He is a passionate advocate of musicians’ rights in the current political climate, and has a weakness for dry humour and artisan crisps.
