Richard Howarth was born and educated in London. He studied at the Guildhall School of Music with Llewelyn John and Vilem Tausky. During his final year he was receiving invitations to sing at such diverse venues as Salisbury Cathedral and aboard the Q.E.2. On leaving G.S.M. he joined Kent Opera. Richard has performed in oratorio, opera and given recitals in most of the major towns and cities in the U.K., and has toured the U.S.A. and Canada, singing the principal baritone roles in the Savoy Operas. He has also appeared with John Ogdon in an opera for piano and singers composed by the great pianist himself, and more recently as guest soloist with The English Sinfonia, The Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra and The Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra. Broadcasts include Pooh Bah in a live transmission of The Mikado from The Royal Albert Hall for Radio 2, High Priest in Gluck's Iphigenie with Kent Opera for Radio 3, Messiah for Classic FM and Stainer's Crucifixion for Radio Nottingham. He is visiting teacher of singing at the universities of Nottingham and Loughborough, and is musical director of Loughborough University Choir.
Accompanist - Eleonora Babitskaya.
Eleonora was appointed the Choir's accompanist in September 1999. Born in the former Soviet Union, Eleonora studied piano at the prestigious Gnessin Musical Institute in Moscow. She was a regular performer with the Soviet State Philharmonic Society and for five years an accompanist on Soviet Radio. From 1991-1995 she was engaged by the Hochschule Fur Musik in Munich.
In great demand as a master class accompanist for string players, Eleonora has played for many distinguished musicians in Russia and regularly returns to Europe as accompanist and chamber music performer. On three occasions Eleonara has been awarded the Diploma for best accompanist including the International Tchaikovsky Competition.