Richard Bamping has held the title of Principal Cellist of the Hong Kong Philharmonic since 1993. His many solo appearances with the Philharmonic have been greeted with critical acclaim.

He has had a very broad musical education studying cello with Elizabeth Wilson, Raphael Wallfisch, Amedeo Baldovino, Ralph Kirschbaum, Paul Tortelier, David Geringas, Aldo Parisot, Janos Starker, Timothy Hugh and Steven Isserlis.

In the field of chamber music, he has studied with the Amadeus, Alban Berg, Delme, Takacs and Allegri String Quartets, and with David Takeno, Eli Goren, Emmanuel Hurwitz, Gyorgy Kurtag, and Peter Norris.

As a freelance cellist based in London, Richard Bamping played in many chamber music ensembles performing across the United Kingdom, Europe and the U.S.A. He has also performed with many of the leading orchestras in Europe including the Philharmonia, the Royal Philharmonic and the European Community Chamber Orchestras, and served for four years as Principal ‘Cellist with the London Soloists’ Chamber Orchestra.

In 1990, Leonard Bernstein chose Richard Bamping to play Principal Cello for the first Pacific Music Festival in Japan, where he also worked closely with Michael Tilson Thomas and Marin Alsop.

In January this year, Richard performed Tan Dun’s The Map concerto in Taiwan and Shenzhen, under the baton of the composer.

Richard’s cello, dated 1674 was made in Cremona by Andrea Guarneri and is one of only 8 surviving examples of his work.