Honorary Doctorates for Wood and McCabe
15th August 2006
Hugh Wood, born at Parbold near Wigan, went to Oxford as an historian, and only subsequently took up full-time musical study (with Anthony Milner, Iain Hamilton and Matyas Seiber). He himself has since taught music regularly, at various levels: at Morley College (1958 - 1967), the Royal Academy of Music (1962 - 1975), Glasgow (1966 - 1970) and Liverpool (1971 - 1975) Universities, and more recently Cambridge, where he is a Fellow of Churchill College. He is a well-known broadcaster and writer on music, and a superb apologist for music that he happens to admire.
For John McCabe, the urge to compose manifested itself quickly, and by 11, he had written thirteen symphonies. Studies at Manchester University and the Royal Manchester College of Music equipped him with the necessary techniques to pursue a double career as pianist and composer. Already an Honorary Doctor of Philosophy from Thames Valley University, McCabe has received honours from the Royal Northern College of Music, the Royal Academy of Music, the Royal College of Music and the London College of Music. McCabe was appointed C.B.E. in 1983 for his services to British music and received the Incorporated Society of Musicians’ Distinguished Musician Award for 2003.
