Claude Richard
First prize winner in violin at the Conservatoire de musique de Montréal where he studied with Arthur Garami and Raymond Dessaints, Claude Richard distinguished himself afterwards by winning the 10 OSM Competition and the American Jerome Gross Prize. A grant holder of the Canada Arts Council, of the Blossom Music Center, the Cleveland Institute of Music, the Fonds FCAR and the Académie de Lausanne, he received an Artist Diploma and the Professionnal Studies Diploma from the Cleveland Institute of Music after studying with David Cerone and Donald Weilerstein – of whom he was the assistant. He also participated in master classes with Yehudi Menuhin, Isaac Stern and Joseph Gingold. Brought to the attention of international critics for “… his always powerful sonority, his constantly appropriate stylistic ideas, excellence in communication and fluidity of expression” (Robert Finn – The Cleveland Plain Dealer ), and “… I cannot remember ever hearing this work performed with such intensity of emotion” (Greg Stepanich – Florida News ), Claude Richard was destined from the start to an international career. As guest soloist with Canadian and American orchestras, he has toured Germany, Switzerland, Italy and France. As a chamber musician, he was invited to perform with pianist Emmanuel Ax in “a high level concert in which broadness of interpretation was synonymous with grandeur and reflection” (Wilma Salisbury – The Plain Dealer ). He was a teacher of music at Ithaca College (New York), the University of Manitoba, the University of Ottawa, and the Conservatoire de musique de Montréal. In addition, he occupied the position of concertmaster with the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra. Mr. Richard is presently associate professor on the music faculty of the Université de Montréal. He gives master classes in the United States, Canada and France in prestigious institutions such as the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique in Lyon and the Cleveland Institute of Music. He was artist in residence at the chapelle historique du Bon-Pasteur in Montréal from 1996 to 2000; he also teaches at the Festival international du Domaine Forget since 1992. He has recorded for the Société Radio-Canada, Radio-France, National Public Radio in Chicago, Cleveland, New York and Charleston. In September 2006, he founded the Garami Trio.
Claude Richard’s students have garnered many prestigious awards, including the international music competitions in Montréal and Osaka, the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal Competition, the Prix d’Europe, and at all Québec and Canada national competitions. In addition, many of his students now play with the symphony orchestras of Montréal and Québec, Edmonton, the National Arts Centre Orchestra in Ottawa, the Opéra de Tours, the Orchestre des Violons du Roy and Symphony Nova Scotia among others. Claude Richard performs on a magnificent violin made by Antonio Guadagnini in Turin in 1856. Claude Richard was a laureate of the OSM Standard Life Competition in 1982.
