Professor Charles Bodman Rae

Biography/ Background

Charles Bodman Rae is a composer, pianist, conductor and author.  He is currently the seventh Elder Professor of Music at the Elder Conservatorium of Music, University of Adelaide, where he has also served as Director and Dean.  This appointment to Australia's senior professorship in music (est.1884) was made in 2001.

He was born in England in 1955 to a family of Scottish and German origins.  After private piano studies with Dame Fanny Waterman, founder of the Leeds International Pianoforte Competition, he read Music at Cambridge (Sidney Sussex College).  Concurrent with his undergraduate studies at Cambridge he studied composition in Oxford with the composer, pianist and Messiaen scholar, Dr. Robert Sherlaw Johnson, with whom he also studied piano works of Messiaen.  After conducting studies with Sir Edward Downes at Hilversum in Holland, and after completing postgraduate composition studies at Cambridge, with Professor Robin Holloway, he was appointed in 1979 to a permanent lecturership in Academic Studies at the then City of Leeds College of Music.

After two years he resigned his Leeds appointment in order to accept a postgraduate composition scholarship from the Polish Government, enabling him to live and work in Warsaw from 1981 to 1983 attached, as a visiting composer, to the Chopin Academy of Music.  During this time he developed a close professional association - and personal friendship - with one of the great composers of the twentieth century, Witold Lutoslawski, which lasted until the composer's death in 1994. This association led to his doctoral thesis on Lutoslawski's compositional technique (University of Leeds, 1992) and his monograph *The Music of Lutoslawski* (London: Faber and Faber, 1994) currently in its third edition (London: Omnibus Press, 1999).

Returning to Leeds in 1983 he was appointed to a permanent lecturership in Composition and Analysis, and then in 1992 to the senior management position of Head of School of Composition and Creative Studies.  In 1997 he moved from Leeds to Manchester to join the senior management of the Royal Northern College of Music as Director of Studies (ie Dean) with a subsidiary role as Head of School of Academic Studies.  In his four years at the RNCM he was responsible for restructuring both the undergraduate and postgraduate curricula and awards, putting in place the innovative feature of 'Supporting Professional Studies' that later secured for the RNCM a coveted HEFCE-funded Centre of Excellence in Teaching and Learning.  Whilst at the RNCM he contributed to the Sutherland and Tooley reports on the funding of UK music conservatoires, and was an elected member of the national executive committee of the National Association for Music in Higher Education.  He also played an active role in the affairs of the then Federation of British Conservatoires (now ConservatoiresUK).

In parallel with his work for leading UK music academies he was for much of the 1990s a regular broadcaster (writer and presenter) for BBC Radio 3.  He made several radio documentaries on Lutoslawski and Penderecki, but his biggest project for the BBC was a ground-breaking 9-hour series of programmes (first broadcast in January/February 1990) on connections between Music and Bells.  This project represented a long-standing interest that had already been explored in several compositions beginning with *Jede Irdische Venus*, which had been premiered in Warsaw at the Chopin Academy of Music.

In 2001 he was recruited from the RNCM to direct and merge two music schools in Adelaide, the Elder Conservatorium of Music and the School of Music of the Adelaide Institute of TAFE.  The merger was effected in 2001 and 2002 was the first year of the new dual-sector music academy (initially known as the Elder School of Music).  From 2002 to 2005 he led a major multi-million dollar capital development of the school, jointly funded by the Federal and State Governments. The new facilities were formally opened by the Premier of South Australia in May 2005.

In 2004, concurrent with his leadership of the Elder Conservatorium of Music, he was elected to a three-year term as Chair of the Academic Board (Academic Senate) of the University of Adelaide. In this capacity he also served, *ex officio*, as a Member of the University Council, a member of the Vice-Chancellor's Committee (the senior executive group of the university), and many other university committees.

In Australia he has served as a non-executive Director on the Boards of the following organisations: the Helpmann Academy for the Visual and Performing Arts; the Australian Music Examinations Board; and the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra.  In 2000 he had joined the Quality Assurance Agency (QAA) in the UK as an Institutional Auditor, and in 2006 he was also invited to join the Australian Universities Quality Agency (AUQA) as an Institutional Auditor.

His professional debut took place in 1974, with the premiere of his first orchestral work, *Primum Mobile*.  The piece was selected for the finals of the UK Composers' Competition held in Aberdeen as part of the International Festival of Youth Orchestras.  There it was played by the Young Musicians' Symphony Orchestra of London, conducted by James Blair. The performance received a Radio 3 network radio broadcast by BBC Scotland.

His Australian debut, as both pianist and composer, was given during the 2002 Adelaide Festival of Arts.

Qualifications

MA(Cantab.), PhD(Leeds), DMus(Adel.), ARCM, FRSA, FCLCM

ARCM (Piano Performance), Royal College of Music, London, 1975

Bachelor of Arts with Honours (Music Tripos), University of Cambridge,  1977

Master of Arts, University of Cambridge, 1981

Doctor of Philosophy, University of Leeds, 1992

Doctor of Music, University of Adelaide 2004

Awards & Achievements

In 1999 he was awarded the honorary Fellowship of Leeds College of Music in a ceremony held in the Great Hall of the University of Leeds.

In 2005 he was awarded the inaugural Lutoslawski Medal for his "outstanding achievement in promoting the ideas and work of Witold Lutoslawski".  The award was presented in a ceremony at Warsaw's Royal Castle by the pre-eminent Polish film director, Andrzej Wajda.

Also in 2005 he received on behalf of the Elder Conservatorium of Music an Australian Classical Music Award (APRA/AMC) for "outstanding contribution by an organisation" in recognition of the highly acclaimed chamber music series of 22 events (all broadcast live on ABC Classic FM) that he had curated for the 2004 Adelaide Festival of Arts.

Teaching Interests

He has taught at the undergraduate levels at the City of Leeds College of Music and the Royal Northern College of Music.  The main focus of this teaching has been on Musical Composition and Musical Analysis, but has also encompassed Musical Performance (conducting orchestras, coaching chamber music), and coaching solo performance), Music History, Aesthetics, Music Theory.

He has taught at the postgraduate levels (coursework and research training) at the Royal Northern College of Music and the Elder Conservatorium of Music, University of Adelaide.  Since 2003 he has been one of the top doctoral supervisors for the University of Adelaide (across all faculties/disciplines) as measured by supervisory load.

He has been a guest lecturer at leading music institutions in the USA, UK, continental Europe, China, Australia and Korea.

Research Interests

His research interests lie in the following fields: Musical Composition; Polish Music, particularly the music of Witold Lutoslawski; Music and Bells.

He has supervised to successful completion many doctoral research projects across a wide range of musical fields, including: Musical Composition, Musical Analysis, Music Education, and Musicology.

He currently supervises the majority of doctoral research projects in the Elder Conservatorium of Music, including ones with a focus in Musical Composition, Musical Performance, and Musicology (including Analysis).

Research Funding

He has been a contributing partner on the following multinational research projects:

Lutoslawski Studies Project, led by Prof.dr.hab. Zbigniew Skowron, Institute of Musicology, University of Warsaw, funded by the Polish Committee for Scholarly Research and the Polish Academy of Sciences (1997-2000).

Panufnik Project, led by Prof.dr.hab. Jadwiga Paja-Stach, Institute of Musicology, Jagiellonian University, Krakow, funded by the Polish Committee for Scholarly Research and the Polish Academy of Sciences (to 2003).

Mundus Musicalis Project, an international research consortium of music academies, led by the European Association of Conservatoires, funded by the European Commission (2004-2007). This project included representatives from the USA, Australia, UK, Brazil, Norway, Canada, Korea.  It reported formally to the European Commission at the end of 2007 (see www.aecinfo.org).

He has received major project funding in the form of commissions for new creative works from the Yorkshire Arts Association (UK), and from the Australia Council for the Arts.

Publications

!Compositions! (selected major works): Viola Concerto (2007); String Quartet no.2 (2004); *Fulgura Frango* for two pianos (1987); Donaxis Quartet (1987); *Jede irdische Venus* (1982); Sonata for Guitar (1982); String Quartet no.1 (1981); *Six Verses of Vision*, for soprano and chamber ensemble (1976); *Primum Mobile*, for orchestra (1974).

!Books!

*The Music of Lutoslawski* (London: Faber and Faber, 1994) 288pp. ISBN 0-571-16450-1

*Muzyka Lutoslawskiego* (Warsaw: Polskie Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN, 1996). Revised and expanded. Polish translation by Stanislaw Krupowicz.  304pp. ISBN 83-01-11908-X

*The Music of Lutoslawski* (London: Omnibus Press, 1999). Revised and expanded third edition (paperback). 318pp. ISBN 0-7119-6910-8

Articles (selected)

'The role of the major-minor chord in Panufnik's compositional technique', in *Andrzej Panufnik's music and its reception*, ed. Jadwiga Paja-Stach (Krakow: Musica Iagellonica, 2003), pp.136-149. ISBN 83-7099-124-6

'Research issues in music and music education', text of opening keynote address to the 2002 AARME Conference, in *Proceedings of the XXIV Annual Conference of the Australian Association for Research in Music Education*, eds. J.Rosevear and J.Callaghan (Melbourne: Australian Association for Research in Music ducation, 2002), pp.6-16. ISBN 0-9586086-2-8

'Lutoslawski's Sound World: a World of Contrasts', in *Lutoslawski Studies*, ed. Zbigniew Skowron (Oxford and New York: OUP, 2001), pp.16-35. ISBN 0-19-816660-5

'Bell' in *The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians*, 2nd. edition, ed. Stanley Sadie (London: Macmillan, 2001), Vol.3, pp.168-182. ISBN 0-333-60800-3

'Lutoslawski, Witold Roman' in *The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians*, 2nd. edition, ed. Stanley Sadie (London: Macmillan, 2001), Vol.15, pp.381-389. ISBN 0-333-60800-3

'Swiat dzwiekowy Lutoslawskiego: swiat kontrastow', in *Estetyka i styl tworczosci Witolda Lutoslawskiego*, ed. Zbigniew Skowron (Krakow: Musica Iagellonica, 2000), pp.31-52. ISBN 83-7099-095-9

 'Organizacja wysokosci dzwiekow w muzyce Lutoslawskiego' [Pitch organisation on the music of Lutoslawski], *Muzyka* XL/1-2 (Warsaw: Polish Academy of Sciences, Institute of the Arts, 1995), pp.41-58. PL ISSN 0027-5344

Professional Associations

Charles Bodman Rae was elected a full (writer) member of the Performing Right Society (London) in 1982.  In 1988 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (London).

Entry last updated: Thursday, 19 Feb 2009