RSM People: George Caird
A life spent playing, teaching and leading has led George Caird to the role of RSM’s new Chairman. Here, he discusses his varied career as an oboist and in academia, and what plans he has during his tenure as a Trustee.
How old were you when you first became interested in music, and what made you decide to take up an instrument?
When I was very young I lived in Montreal and, whilst my siblings and I had piano lessons from an early age, I don’t remember hearing much music until my family moved back to Oxford when I was nine. It was a life-changing move for me as I went to New College Choir School as a non-chorister and quickly found my way in the most inspiring and musical of environments: I went regularly to the Evensongs at New College and Magdalen College, I learned the recorder, then the oboe as well as the piano and I sang in a number of choirs. I remember singing in a performance of the St Matthew Passion conducted by Sir Thomas Armstrong, I remember hearing Stravinsky conduct in the Oxford Bach Festival and, for me as a budding oboist, twice heard Leon Goossens perform. Many of my school friends remember the production of Paul Drayton’s opera The Hobbit in which I played the oboe seated in front of the stage of the small school hall with J.R.R. Tolkien sitting in the front row.
The moment when I fell in love with the oboe stays with me after all these years. In that first year after arriving in the UK from Canada, I attended the annual madrigal concert held on the River Cherwell by Magdalen College School. These were magical evenings where madrigals were sung from punts on the river with audience and instrumentalists on the bank and on this occasion two older boys, Benjamin Daube and Richard O’Connor, played a sonata for two oboes – I was smitten and pestered to have an oboe until my parents took the plunge.
Your career has seen you work as a performer, teacher and administrator. What insight does that give you into the lives of musicians and the difficulties they can face throughout their careers?
I have been so lucky to have enjoyed so many aspects of the music sector. Having studied the oboe with Janet Craxton at the Royal Academy of Music, with Helmut Winschermann in Detmold and then privately with Neil Black I found my way into a thriving music profession in London playing with numerous orchestras on a regular basis (BBCSO, LPO, City of London Sinfonia, Guildford Philharmonic and later the Academy of St Martin in the Fields) whilst concentrating on chamber music with the Vega Wind Quintet, Albion Ensemble and my own Oboe Quartet.
I loved my playing but I was also drawn to teaching early on mainly driven by the idea of helping younger musicians on their way. It was a real privilege to join Celia Nicklin and Tess Miller on the staff of the Royal Academy of Music where I soon found myself running the woodwind department. I soon realised that, in addition to teaching, it was vital to create an ethos where all students could thrive in a long-held tradition that tended to reward the best. It has been so exciting to have been involved in the modern conservatoire movement that introduced HE degrees in performance whilst incorporating pedagogy, research, approaches to well-being, professional development, improved facilities and equipment, international networks and many more aspects that make our conservatoires what they are today. In the five conservatoires that I have worked in (Royal Academy of Music, Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, Codarts Rotterdam, Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama and Royal Central School of Speech and Drama) I have revelled in the incredible diversity of approach towards the arts that gives so many choices to young performing artists. My fundamental belief is that we should try to encourage confidence, enjoyment, team working and quiet determination as vital ingredients for a successful life in music and the arts. These and other essential qualities are the ‘hidden curriculum’ in any of our great teaching institutions.
I was slowly drawn into conservatoire life through my work at the RAM which eventually involved managing the orchestras and then, one day, I noticed the advertisement for the role of Principal of Birmingham Conservatoire as it was then. I responded to this and my life changed radically.
I feel that the word ‘administration’ doesn’t do justice to what it takes to run a conservatoire! Over the 17 years that I was there, we grew the Conservatoire to over 1000 students including the Junior Conservatoire, we validated new courses in Jazz, Indian Classical Music, Music Technology amongst others, we developed a successful Early Music Department and a contemporary music orchestra, we worked with the City Of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and Birmingham Contemporary Music Group among other professional connections, we developed our international networks not least as an active member of the Association of European Conservatoires, we played our role as a faculty of Birmingham City University and, in short, every day was action-packed. Above all, my work was about people – talented students, wonderful colleagues both full-time and part-time, university colleagues, alumni, donors and supporters, concert-goers and friends. I became more and more aware that conservatoires across the world play a vital role in feeding our music and arts sectors – it was a responsibility but also hugely rewarding to be involved.
How important is it to help fellow musicians in their time of need and make sure the profession is properly cared for?
My experience is that musicians are a highly caring community. You have to work so hard to become a musician and, however successful you become, it is never easy. So we stick together and we help each other if we can. That said, there are many who face their difficulties alone and it is vital that we keep an eye out for anyone who needs help whether young and starting out, in mid-career or later on. Help can come in many forms too – an individual moment of support, sustained teaching or coaching, financial aid, medical or counselling advice, strategic planning and so on. There are so many individuals and organisations that are there to support our musicians and the RSM is a major and significant part of that landscape .
In addition to the need for help for individual musicians, our entire profession is facing a time of challenge if not crisis. The after-effects of the Covid pandemic and the effects of global financial downturn appear to be hitting the arts hard and it is more and more incumbent on us to do all we can to nurture our cultural economy. There are positives of course: the music industry is more diverse, more inclusive, more broad-minded and continues to be amazingly creative, but in small ways and large, we must all join forces to keep music alive, maintain our standards and secure the future.
What made you decide to become more involved in the running of RSM and what plans do you have during your tenure as Chairman?
I have been a member of RSM for nearly thirty years and have long admired what RSM stands for and does. For many years I did not participate very much (under the excuse of being too busy….) but then I did attend and from there I was encouraged to join the Court of Assistants and later to join the Governors which I did at the beginning of 2023. Over the past years, I have already very much enjoyed acting as a Trustee of the National Childrens’ Orchestra and of the Countess of Munster Musical Trust in support of young musicians; joining the RSM is a different but equally vital responsibility for all musicians – and, after all, I am one of those!
It’s important that the Society has continuity, so it’s following up the good work that has gone on already. No Chair wants to come in and appear to be a new broom and I have huge respect those who have gone before me. Musicians by nature are caring, so I want to do as much as one can to reach out to musicians.