Adjudicators
PROFESSOR GEORGE CAIRD (CHAIRMAN)
Throughout his career, George Caird has been professor of oboe, head of woodwind and head of orchestral studies at the Royal Academy of Music. From 1993-2010, he was principal of the Birmingham Conservatoire.
After gaining an MA in music at Peterhouse, Cambridge, he pursued a freelance career as an oboist playing with major orchestras including the London Philharmonic, BBC
Symphony and the City of London Sinfonia.
You can read more about Professor Caird on our 'President of BIMC' page here.
CHRIS GLYN
Chris Glyn is an award-winning pianist and accompanist, praised for his ‘breathtaking sensitivity’ (Gramophone), ‘irrepressible energy, wit and finesse’ (The Guardian), ‘a perfect fusion of voice and piano’ (BBC Music Magazine) and as ‘an inspired programmer’ (The Times). He is Artistic Director of the Ryedale Festival, programming around sixty events each year in beautiful and historic venues across North Yorkshire.
Chris read music at New College, Oxford and studied piano with John Streets in France and Malcolm Martineau at the Royal Academy of Music, where he now teaches. He has made many CD recordings and is regularly heard on BBC Radio 3.
An interest in bringing classical song to a wider audience led Chris to commission Jeremy Sams to create new English translations of Schubert’s song cycles which have been recorded for Signum Records as well as Wolf Italian Songbook. Recent and future plans include recitals with Roderick Williams and Ian Bostridge, further collaborations with Jeremy Sams (Schumann songs), CD recordings with Nicky Spence, Kathryn Rudge, Claire Booth, Roderick Williams and The Sixteen, performances at the Spitalfields, Lammermuir, Oxford Lieder, Leeds Lieder and Bath festivals, leading masterclasses for the Britten Pears School, a tour of Wolf’s Italian Songbook, and embarking on a project with Rachel Podger to perform and record Mozart and Beethoven’s Violin Sonatas as well as many appearances at the Wigmore Hall and the Concertgebouw.
SARAH BRUCE
Sarah Bruce has over 20 years' experience of managing musicians, having launched Lomonaco Artists in 2007. A first instrument oboist, she graduated in music from Edinburgh University and also plays flute and piano. During the pandemic, she picked up the flute again and succeeded in obtaining Distinction in her Grade 8 flute exam.
For over two decades, Sarah has travelled widely around the globe managing both instrumental soloists such as cellist Matthew Barley, oboist Nicholas Daniel, violinist Michael Foyle, pianist Ivana Gavrić and pianist/composer Rolf Hind, as well as conductors Michael Seal, Joshua Gersen, Živa Ploj Peršuh, David Greilsammer and chamber ensembles including the Calefax Reed Quintet, Lendvai String Trio, the Kamus Quartet and Trio Balthasar.
Sarah gained her initial experience in managing artists through working with Seaview Music in Cambridge; then a move to HarrisonParrott in London brought her to manage such stars as Pierre-Laurent Aimard and Vladimir Ashkenazy. She worked at Ricordi London publishers - managing the careers of composers - before launching Lomonaco Artists.
She has toured several international orchestras in territories from Europe to Japan and South America; most recently the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra and the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra. Perhaps not surprisingly, Sarah speaks Italian, French and Spanish.