Cellist Richard Narroway has won The Music Trust’s prestigious 2020 Freedman Classical Fellowship, taking home a purse of $20,000. The annual competition would normally culminate in a deciding concert at the Sydney Opera House. This year, the finalists were judged on submitted recordings, video conference interviews and the proposals for creative projects they would undertake were they to win. Narroway’s fellow finalists were violinists Grace Clifford and Harry Ward, and cellist James Morley.

Richard NarrowayWinner of the 2020 Freedman Classical Fellowship Richard Narroway

The 29-year-old cellist returned to Australia several months ago after ten years of study and performances in the USA, with plans to re-establish himself in Australia – before the COVID-19 pandemic put those plans on hold.

“I am incredibly honoured to receive this prestigious fellowship, which will allow me to continue my lifelong quest of using music to connect with audiences and communities in exciting and innovative ways,” Narroway tells Limelight. “It brings me so much joy and gratitude to have this opportunity to carry out a project that I’ve dreamed of undertaking for so long. I must give enormous thanks to the panel of esteemed judges,...