Richard Montgomery was born in Glasgow and had his first violin lesson aged four. He studied at St Mary’s Music School with Andrea Gajic before moving to London to take up his place at the Royal Academy of Music. There, he studied with Richard Ireland and, upon graduating with first class honours, received a Regency Award for outstanding studentship.

 

After a year spent studying in the Netherlands at Conservatorium Maastricht with Yuzuko Horigome, Richard eventually returned to Glasgow and began working as a freelance violinist. In 2024, he started playing viola for fun before deciding to pursue it in earnest in a master’s degree at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, taking lessons with Fiona Winning. He is supported by the prestigious Leverhulme scholarship and during his first year has won both the Mabel Glover string quartet competition and the Governor’s Prize for chamber music. 

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Richard balances being a student with performing professionally and can be heard playing both violin and viola with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, and Royal Northern Sinfonia, as well as giving chamber music recitals around the country. In May, he performed Walton’s viola concerto with the Edinburgh Symphony Orchestra. He also enjoys teaching and works as a coach for NYOS and Young Chamber Music.