John Carewe (born 24 January 1933) is a retired British conductor and teacher. Very early in his student career at the Guildhall School of Music, Carewe gave up his original intention of being a composer and turned to conducting. His teachers, nevertheless, were all composers: Walter Goehr and Max Deutsch (both Schoenberg pupils), Messiaen (with whom he studied in Paris on a French Government scholarship) and Pierre Boulez.[1][2]

In 1958, he founded the New Music Ensemble and gave many British premieres of music by composers including Birtwistle,[3] Boulez,[4] Bennett,[5] Maxwell Davies,[6] and appeared at most of the major British festivals, including the BBC Proms.[1][7] He was one of the three conductors in the first British performance of Stockhausen’s Gruppen, given in Glasgow in 1960.[8][9]

In 1966, Carewe was invited by Sir William Glock to become the Principal Conductor of the BBC Welsh Orchestra.[1] From 1974 to 1986 Carewe was music director of the Brighton Philharmonic Society, and was Principal Conductor of The Fires of London between 1980 and 1984.[10][11]

In 1988 Carewe gave the world premiere of Elliott Carter’s Oboe Concerto with Heinz Holliger.[12] In 1996, he was involved with Sir Simon Rattle and Daniel Harding in six performances of Gruppen in Birmingham, London and Vienna.[13]

In 1993 Carewe accepted an appointment as General Music Director of the Chemnitz Opera, and the Robert-Schumann-Philharmonic.[14]

Carewe's pupils include Sir Simon Rattle.[15] He frequently worked with the Bundesjugendorchester[16] and taught conducting at both the Royal Academy of Music[17] and the Royal College of Music in London. He has served on the jury of the Gustav Mahler Conducting Competition.[18]

Among Carewe's recordings are Debussy's Pelléas et Mélisande (recorded in 1988 after performances at Nice Opera),[19] and Milhaud's La Création du Monde and Stravinsky's The Soldier's Tale (recorded with a chamber ensemble from the London Symphony Orchestra).[20]

Carewe has two daughters: Mary, a vocalist and Anna, a cellist.[21]

References

  1. ^ a b c "CHARM Symposium 6: Playing wih [sic] recordings". King's College London. Retrieved 7 January 2018.
  2. ^ Rupprecht, Philip (2015). British Musical Modernism: The Manchester Group and their Contemporaries. King's College London: Cambridge University Press. p. 119. ISBN 978-1316297988.
  3. ^ "Birtwistle – Monody for Corpus Christi for soprano, flute, violin and horn | Universal Edition". Universal Edition. Retrieved 7 January 2018.
  4. ^ Harris, Paul; Meredith, Anthony (1 August 2011). Richard Rodney Bennett: The Complete Musician. Omnibus Press. ISBN 9780857125880.
  5. ^ Harris, Paul; Meredith, Anthony (1 August 2011). Richard Rodney Bennett: The Complete Musician. Omnibus Press. ISBN 9780857125880.
  6. ^ Craggs, Stewart R. (12 July 2017). Revival: Peter Maxwell Davies: A Source Book (2002): A Source Book. Routledge. ISBN 9781351765022.
  7. ^ "2017". BBC Music Events. Retrieved 7 January 2018.
  8. ^ Del Mar, Norman (Autumn 1961). "On Co-Conducting Stockhausen's 'Gruppen'". Tempo. 59 (59): 15–23. doi:10.1017/S0040298200027807. S2CID 145272173.
  9. ^ "BBC SSO at 80 - 1961". BBC. Retrieved 7 January 2018.
  10. ^ Heidelberg, Theater und Orchester. "John Carewe". theaterheidelberg.de (in German). Retrieved 7 January 2018.
  11. ^ "Our History". Brighton Philharmonic Orchestra. Retrieved 7 January 2018.
  12. ^ "Elliott Carter – Oboe Concerto". boosey.com. Retrieved 7 January 2018.
  13. ^ Hensher, Philip (21 December 1996). "All talent and no gimmicks". The Daily Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Archived from the original on 26 February 2016. Retrieved 7 January 2018.
  14. ^ Heidelberg, Theater und Orchester. "John Carewe". theaterheidelberg.de (in German). Retrieved 7 January 2018.
  15. ^ Connolly, Kate (11 March 2010). "Passing the Mahler baton". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 7 January 2018.
  16. ^ "Dirigentinnen und Dirigenten". Bundesjugendorchester (in German). Retrieved 19 December 2023.
  17. ^ "Andrea Quinn | Biography | Conductor | Classical Orchestra". www.andreaquinn.com. Archived from the original on 22 August 2018. Retrieved 7 January 2018.
  18. ^ Connolly, Kate (11 March 2010). "Passing the Mahler baton". The Guardian. Retrieved 11 February 2018.
  19. ^ Salter, Lionel (9 January 2013). "Debussy Pelléas et Mélisande". Gramophone. Retrieved 7 January 2018.
  20. ^ "Milhaud* / Stravinsky* – John Carewe Conducting The London Symphony Orchestra Chamber Group* – La Création Du Monde / L' Histoire Du Soldat". discogs. Retrieved 7 January 2018.
  21. ^ "biographies". Sheridan Ensemble. Retrieved 19 July 2022.


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