Biography
Willard Carter was born in Great Britain in 2002. He began taking cello lessons at the age of four. At the age of eight, he entered the Wells Cathedral School as a chorister. In 2013, he moved to the Purcell School, the oldest music school in the UK, and studied cello with Alexander Boyarsky. In 2016, he joined the junior department of the Royal College of Music and moved in 2018 to the Reina Sofia Escuela di Musica to study with Ivan Monighetti.
Willard is a scholarship holder of the Music Academy in Liechtenstein and regularly takes part in the intensive weeks and activities that take place there.
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He was successful in national competitions and won the Purcell School's “Concerto Prize” and the Soloist's Prize. He is also a winner of the “Barbara Boissard Concerto Prize”, the “Marjorie Humby Prize”, the “Gordon Turner Competition” and the “Junior Chamber Music Prize” of the Royal College of Music. In 2020, he won the 2nd prize at the “Anna Kull International Cello Competition” in Graz.
Willard has played in Somerset, Wiltshire and London, as well as in Recanati, Osimo, Poppi, Pratovecchio and Stia in Italy. He has performed at Charterhouse, Goldsmith's Hall, Windsor Castle, Buckingham Palace and several times at Wigmore Hall.
In 2021, he played a recital at the Solsberg Festival and performed with the Gstaad Festival Orchestra. He gave solo concerts at the Radio Classique Festival in St. Malo, the Gstaad New Year Festival, the Auditorio Nacional in Madrid and the Gstaad Menuhin Festival. In 2023, he played chamber and solo concerts with Daniel Hope at the Schleswig-Holstein Festival.
Willard has received grants from the Albert Cooper Trust and the Future Talent & Awards for Young Musicians.