‘The doomsayers were completely wrong’: Elder Conservatorium honours longtime leader
Professor Charles Bodman Rae, the seventh Sir Thomas Elder Professor of Music at the Elder Conservatorium of Music, reflects on his 24 years shaping the generations of world-class talent.
In his 24 years as the most senior academic at the University of Adelaide’s Elder Conservatorium of Music, Professor Charles Bodman Rae has done more than just manage and teach.
As just the seventh Sir Thomas Elder Professor of Music at the prestigious musical institution, Bodman Rae has shaped the musical paths of thousands of students, 58 of whom he has supervised through their PhDs.
On top of his professional success, this year marks a personal milestone for this globally famous composer, pianist, conductor, author and academic: his 70th birthday. It is a time to stop, reflect and celebrate all he has achieved during his extraordinary life, including his almost 25-year tenure at the helm of the Conservatorium.
In honour of their esteemed colleague, the Conservatorium will host a series of concerts this year in recognition of Bodman Rae’s long service to music. The first concert will be staged on Friday, April 4 at Elder Hall at 1pm, where the Elder Conservatorium Symphony Orchestra will play a clarinet concerto composed by Bodman Rae for leading Australian clarinettist Lloyd Van’t Hoff. The professor will also be conducting the performance.
“He’s absolutely wonderful, a brilliant young clarinettist… and so I’ve written this concerto for him, to be played by the student orchestra, premiering on April 4,” Bodman Rae tells InReview.
Professor Bodman Rae at the end of a concert he conducted which was the Fourth Symphony by Witold Lutoslawski, the Polish composer with whom he worked closely.
Bodman Rae’s actual birthday takes place in August, but with renovation work at Elder Hall scheduled to clash with the big day, the second concert will take place on Friday October 3 at 7pm.
“There are several of these happening in my 70th birthday year, so I’m thinking of it as being a year of celebration, not just a single day,” he says.
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Professor Bodman Rae is only the seventh person to hold the title of Sir Thomas Elder Professor of Music since 1883, taking up the prestigious position in 2001. The distinguished professor, who hails from the UK, has also led the Conservatorium in managerial and administrative roles as both dean and director from 2001 to 2007. He currently serves as both the head of composition and the head of postgraduate studies.
Professor Bodman Rae, who as a young man read music at Cambridge and studied composition at Oxford, has had a remarkable career, both in Australia and internationally. He is recognised internationally as the world’s leading expert on the 20th century composer Witold Lutoslawski, and has won numerous awards and accolades over the years including medals from the Polish Government for his services to music.
He was headhunted to come to Adelaide from his previous position at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester, one of the world’s top music academies.
“I think it would be fair to say that it had gone past its best days when I arrived,” the Professor says of the Conservatorium. “So, my mission really was to be mindful of that wonderful tradition and put it back on top.
“I like to think that I, with lots of other wonderful colleagues, managed to do that and I would never say anything ridiculously big-headed like, ‘I did this, or I did that’. All of those things I think are done with other wonderful people. So, it was about building a really strong team of wonderful people who together could achieve that rebuilding.”
Professor Bodman Rae is a conductor, composer, pianist, author, academic and teacher
At the time he took up the position in Adelaide, Professor Bodman Rae says many in the musical world were “doomsayers”, pessimistic about keeping the iconic Conservatorium going.
“I am a very optimistic sort of person,” he says. “When I came here, the University of Adelaide was in a bit of strife, there was a vice chancellor who made a sudden exit in my first week in the job, which was a bit of a surprise. And, you know, there was a bit of instability there, and the Conservatorium was carrying quite a large, accumulated deficit for quite a few years. So, the position didn’t look all that rosy, and my challenge was to turn it around. And there were quite a few people who spoke to me at the time in defeatist terms, saying, ‘Oh well, you’re not going to be able to make a success of this. Classical music is a dying art, and the demographics are against you, and people are only interested in pop music these days’.
“I had all of these kind of doom mongers around me, but I also had very positive people too to balance all of that and make my own decision. I came to the conclusion that the doomsayers were completely wrong and that there is a very strong musical culture here in South Australia, and in Adelaide especially, very strong.
“There are very many people, wonderful people in the community who really care about these things, care about classical music, care about the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra, care about the Australian String Quartet, care about all the choirs we have, people that really care and support everything, benefactors who give money to support these things, and I picked this up quite early. I was determined to prove the negative people wrong. There were lots and lots of talented teenagers coming through who were passionately committed to these things.
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“The staff here have a similar positivity and optimism in the continuation of this kind of musical culture, especially in Adelaide, and that’s really worthwhile and heartening. And one of the things I love about the work is bringing all of that positivity together.”
Professor Bodman Rae, who speaks French, German and Polish, came to Adelaide with his wife, Polish actress Dorota Kwiatkowska and their daughter Isabella, now in her 30s. Dorota was one of Poland’s most famous actresses and starred in movies in Poland, Sweden, Norway and the UK. She also famously appeared on a few episodes of Doctor Who in the 1980s. The couple met when Professor Bodman Rae was living in Poland as a postgraduate student at the Chopin Academy of Music.
Sadly, Dorota passed away in 2018, and Professor Bodman Rae composed a violin piece, ‘Partita Elegiaca’, in honour of his late wife, which was premiered in Italy and will receive its Australian premiere in the Elder Hall as part of the October 3 concert, performed by Dr Madeline Melrose.
Professor Bodman Rae’s late wife, Polish actress Dorota Kwiatkowska, with their daughter Isabella, who now also works at the University of Adelaide.
“I think as you go through life, you inevitably leave traces of your life behind in your creative work,” he says. “I think that happens to a lot of people, whether they’re composers or authors or poets or painters, you leave little traces of yourself behind.
“Music has a very, very strong emotional power. It also has a rational, sort of mathematical basis that underpins it. But music, of all the arts, has the most emotional power. And it’s a very strong thing. We all feel it in different ways and on different days or depending on what we’re going through in our private lives. But I think that’s one of the most important ways that music communicates to people.”
Having his daughter Isabella back in Adelaide after years working in the UK has been heartening for Bodman Rae — she’s since joined him at the University of Adelaide, working in the IT department.
These days, Professor Bodman Rae loves to play his beloved Steinway piano, a gift from his father when the young musician was just 16 years of age.
“That’s one of the central things in my life, playing that beautiful instrument and of course I also sit and compose,” he says.
The word ‘retirement’ isn’t on the horizon just yet.
“There are always new pieces of music to write, there’s always that symphony around the corner, or that violin concerto or some other big piece that you want to write,” he says. “And also writing for individual people, like this clarinettist who is playing as part of my 70th celebrations. It’s a great privilege to be able to write something for him, and there are other wonderful musicians that I’ve written for recently.”
So, what keeps his musical and professional passion alive after almost 25 years at the Conservatorium?
“I think above all, apart from loving music itself, the thing I love about the role is working with wonderful people,” he says. “And I don’t just mean colleagues, staff. I mean the students themselves. I think we’re fortunate to have here in Australia, and in Adelaide specifically, some absolutely fantastic talent. Our top talent is as good as anywhere in the world. It’s a wonderful privilege to be able to work with young people who have that kind of talent. For me, that’s what makes it all worthwhile.
“Adelaide has a huge concentration of wonderful people that do care about the arts, do care about music, do care about opportunities for young people. I think the atmosphere in Adelaide and in South Australia is incredibly strong in this regard, and I’m happy to have played some modest part in that.”
For more information about the concerts in honour of Professor Charles Bodman Rae visit music.adelaide.edu.au/concerts