£2 million Foyle Foundation legacy gift as RWCMD begins work to transform heritage Old Library
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David joined the College community as the Vice Principal of the College (Enterprise and Events) from 2008 2010, proudly welcoming Quincy Jones to the College to receive his fellowship in 2009. We’ve enjoyed our close working and personal relationship with him ever since, supporting and celebrating our students, regularly lending his considerable expertise to us as a critical friend and acting as an adjudicator for many of our major competitions.
As the Artistic Director of BBC Cardiff Singer of the World, one of the most highly regarded classical singing competitions, he has represented Wales across the globe and working closely with the Kiri Te Kanawa Foundation to support outstanding young singers. David always ensured that the College was an integral part of this work, which saw RWCMD host the Song Prize in our concert hall, bringing the students into masterclasses and giving them exposure to the professional singing world.
As a proud Scotsman, David has been a stalwart of the Welsh arts scene for decades: Before coming to the College, he was Head of Music at BBC Wales, and commissioned work for the BBC and independent sector, winning many awards including a Primetime Emmy, BAFTA’s, SONY awards, the Rose d’Or and many others.
In addition to his professional work David served for a number of years as a Trustee and Chair of the Cultural Committee of the Wales Millennium Centre. He was a former trustee of Sinfonia Cymru, and chairperson of the Forget-Me-Not Chorus. He was Chair of National Youth Arts Wales, the organisation responsible for the National Youth Ensembles of Wales, since its inception in October 2017.
‘David has been the most generous and wise friend to the College and the whole arts sector in Wales, generating wonderful creative opportunities, eternally optimistic, and always believing in our students and in what they can achieve. His imagination together with trust in others were a rare combination, and we will miss him hugely.’Helena GauntPrincipal RWCMD
Director of Music at RWCMD, Tim Rhys-Evans, said ‘I, and all of us at RWCMD, will miss David very much. He was always so happy to talk whenever I needed to ring him and seek his advice – his deep musical knowledge was inspiring, and his passion for enabling young musicians was infectious. Even when times got tough, his winning smile and irreverent sense of humour always left you feeling encouraged, more positive and enthused. His legacy for the arts in Wales is pretty incomparable. Our thoughts are with Anne and his children at this incredibly difficult time.’
David was awarded an OBE for services to the arts and music in the Platinum Birthday Honours in June 2022.
