Professor George Caird

Conservatoire Principal
Oboe Tutor

MA (Cantab)
FRAM
FRCM
HonFLCM
FRSA
PgDip
HonBC

email George Caird c/o Esra Akcay-Duff
Tel: c/o 0121 331 5910

Following study in London and Cambridge, George Caird pursued a freelance career as an oboist which included orchestral playing, chamber music and solo engagements. He has worked with many of London’s major orchestras including the London Philharmonic, BBC Symphony and City of London Sinfonia and particularly as a member of The Academy of St Martin in the Fields from 1984 to 1991. He has also been a member of a number of leading ensembles, notably as a founder-member of the Albion Ensemble and the George Caird Oboe Quartet.

George has toured for the British Council in China, the Far East, India, Egypt, Tunisia and Canada as well as performing in concerts and broadcasts in most European countries. He has recorded for Chandos, Nimbus, Hyperion, Meridian and Proudsound labels with solo and chamber music repertoire (see below).

George has been involved in many areas of music education: teaching, devising educational programmes, coaching chamber ensembles, conducting and coaching youth orchestras and teaching. He was appointed a professor of oboe at the Royal Academy of Music in 1984 where he became Head of Woodwind in 1987 and Head of Orchestral Studies in 1991. Since September 1993, George has been Principal of Birmingham Conservatoire.

George has sat on adjudication panels for BBC Young Musician of the Year, the Audi Junior Musician, the Shell-LSO Competition, the YCAT awards and the Chamber Music Competition for Schools.

Amongst his many other professional commitments (see below), George chaired the Learning and Skills Council Music Review for Birmingham and Solihull 2003/4 and was the President of the Incorporated Society of Musicians for 2004/5. George is also a founding member of the British Double Reed Society and a member of the Executive Committee of the International Double Reed Society, whose 2009 Conference will be hosted by the Conservatoire.


Teaching Specialisms
  • Oboe
  • Chamber music
  • Orchestral repertoire
  • 20th-century English music
Currently performing / working with Current Projects
  • Research and Performance project based on Benjamin Britten, which included performances in Birmingham and London - St John's, Smith Square
Recent Recordings
  • Forthcoming 2007: Beethoven: Music for Wind Instruments The Albion Ensemble (SOMM recordings)
  • Forthcoming 2007: Benjamin Britten: Six Metamorphoses after Ovid (Oboe Classics)
  • 2004: English music for oboe and strings George Caird, Caird Oboe Quartet (Oboe Classics)
  • 1999: 20th Century Oboe Music for oboe and piano George Caird & Malcolm Wilson (CRC 1009-2)
  • 1998: The Classical Harmonie, Wind Music by Hummel, Beethoven, Gluck The Albion Ensemble (Hyperion CDH 55037)
  • 1996: Mississippi Five, twentieth century music for wind quintet The Albion Ensemble (Proudsound CD 142)
  • 1990: Mozart: oboe quartet and clarinet quintet George Caird, Angela Malsbury, Coull String Quartet (LDRC )
Performances
  • Forthcoming 2008: Ilkley with the Dante Quartet
  • 2007: Birmingham Conservatoire & St John's, Smith Square (London) with the George Caird Oboe Quartet
  • 2007: IDRS Congress, Ithaca, New York
  • 2006: Birmingham Conservatoire
  • 2006: Stratford Festival
  • Commissions and first performances include works by Judith Weir, Hans Werner Henze, Elizabeth Maconchy, Robert Saxton, James Dillon, Dominic Muldowney, Paul Patterson and John Gardner.
Awards & Prizes
  • 2004: FRNCM
  • 1999: FRCM
Recent Summer Courses & Masterclasses
  • London: Guildhall School of Music and Drama, Royal College of Music
  • Manchester: Royal Northern College of Music
  • Birmingham: Midland Arts Centre
  • Athens: Philippos Nakos Conservatory
  • Barcelona: La Caixa de Pensiones
  • Budapest: Franz Liszt Academy
  • Cairo Conservatoire
  • China: Beijing and Shanghai Conservatoires
  • Fu Jen Catholic University
  • Hong Kong: Academy of Performing Arts
  • Korean Universities
  • Manila University
  • Paris Conservatoire
  • Taipei: Chinese University
Selected Publications
  • Forthcoming 2007: Dorothy Gow Quintet for oboe and strings ed. George Caird & Stephen Powell
  • 2006: 'Benjamin Britten and Ovid's Metamorphoses', a discussion of the literary influences on the Six Metamorphoses after Ovid Op 49 and how these have influenced recorded performances. In The Double Reed, Vol 29 No 4
  • 2006: 'Benjamin Britten and his Metamorphoses', an analysis of the Composition Sketch and Fair Copy of Six Metamorphoses after Ovid, Op 49. In The Double Reed, Vol 29 No 3
  • 1999: 'Tone and Articulation' in Module 3, Woodwind Teaching and Learning (Department of Arts and Humanities in Education, University of Reading)
  • 1998: 'Style and Interpretation' in Module 3, Woodwind Teaching and Learning (Department of Arts and Humanities in Education, University of Reading)
  • 1998: 'Approaches to Practice and Laying the Foundations of Technique' in Module 3, Woodwind Teaching and Learning (Department of Arts and Humanities in Education, University of Reading)
  • 1998: 'Phrasing and Inflection in the Music of Mozart: some thoughts on Antony Pay's article 'Phrasing in Contention'', Birmingham Conservatoire Research Journal I/1
  • 1978 - : Articles for Double Reed News and other publications.
Conference Papers
  • 2007: IDRS Congress, Ithaca, New York
  • 2001: 'Conservatoires and Musical Employment in a Multicultural Society' in Music Education in a Multicultural Society (AEC Utrecht)
Professional Membership