Scotsman Obituaries: Charles Foster, inspirational musician and teacher who brought Early Music to new audiences

Charles Foster was born in Aberdeen and attended Robert Gordons College where his father, John, taught English. While at school Charles began trombone lessons with Norman Beattie, former Principal Trombone with the Halle Orchestra. He was awarded a bursary to study at the University of Aberdeen and, having initially chosen Philosophy and Logic, switched to Music, a move which resulted in him meeting classmate, future wife and soulmate Winnie, an accomplished pianist. Graduating with a First Class Honours degree, Charles received a scholarship to further his study into the serial music of Igor Stravinsky.

In 1969 Charles was appointed to teach brass instruments at various schools in Aberdeen and around the same time formed an interest in Early Music, which led to him building up a collection of replica Renaissance wind instruments. He initially set up an Early Music Group consisting of music instructors and class music teachers who gave performances in and around Aberdeen and on BBC radio, and later he and Winnie formed the Kincorth Waits from pupils at one of the comprehensive schools in which he taught Brass. This group played on a wide range of Renaissance wind instruments from Charles’s collection, including shawms, curtals, schreyerpfeifen, crumhorns, Renaissance flutes and recorders, sackbuts and cornetts, as well as stringed instruments and percussion. All group members also sang in vocal pieces and dressed in colourful period costumes made by Winnie.

In 1976 the Waits received the top award in the Secondary Schools’ Section at the National Festival of Music for Youth in London. As a result of this, the Waits were invited to appear at the Schools’ Prom in the Royal Albert Hall and on BBC TV’s Blue Peter. They also took up an invitation from the Russian government to perform in Leningrad and Moscow. Three subsequent groups were formed from pupils at Kincorth Academy, giving concerts at the Purcell Room, as well as performing at schools proms. Latterly, musicians from all four groups were combined to give performances of Early Music around Scotland as a professional group.

Charles Foster regularly cut a dash in medieval costume

Around 1980, Charles began making his own copies of Renaissance wind instruments for use in his groups. He gave papers at international conferences on early musical instruments and contributed to the New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians. In addition, he was commissioned by the Mary Rose Trust to write about the wind instruments recovered from the 16th-century warship, and to make reproductions of the surviving instruments for display at their exhibition at Portsmouth, most notably a reconstruction of the still shawm found on the Mary Rose.

In 1991 he was appointed by Aberdeen City Council to the historic post of Maister of the Sang Schule of Sanct Nicholace Paroche. As Maister he formed a choir of young people which developed into one capable of singing in four parts, and which gave many performances. As another duty of this post was to research music by Aberdeen composers, he found and reconstructed Fantasies by 16th-century composer John Black. These were published by London Pro Musica Edition and recorded by the Kincorth Waits.

Although Charles did receive a number of commissions to make instruments, he was mainly concerned with making instruments for the Kincorth Waits to use, and latterly for research purposes. Ultimately, he donated many of these to the Edinburgh University Collection of Historic Musical Instruments (now at St Cecilia’s Hall Music Museum), including recorders and crumhorns, Renaissance flutes, tenor and bass still shawm, stock-and-horn, cantus bassanelli, bass kortholt and a lang strack bassett.

Charles was for several years local Adviser in Music to the Scottish Arts Council. In 1994 he was awarded an Honorary degree of Doctor of Music by Robert Gordon University. He had many successful brass pupils during his career, with a number being chosen to play in the National Youth Orchestra of Scotland, the National Children’s Orchestra of Scotland and the National Youth Jazz Orchestra of Scotland. As adults, the most accomplished of Charles’ former pupils have played in prestigious orchestras such as the LSO, the RSNO and Berlin Philharmonic.

In retirement, Charles enjoyed tending his beautiful garden, meeting up with former colleagues and pupils for curry, and spending time with his grandson Oliver. Winnie sadly passed away in 2017. Charles, having been initially diagnosed with cancer in 2008, went on to live a further 17 years.

Although Charles’s achievements were many, it is perhaps for his maverick character that he will be most fondly remembered. He had a fantastic rapport with audiences, never more so than at the packed Waits Christmas concerts. His conducting style was very jerky and somewhat uncoordinated, to say the least, yet he brought out the best in players and it was never, ever boring, especially when he “accidentally” stood on a stray tack on stage while dressed in medieval costume, complete with tights and a ruff, fell backwards into a fish pond in the local Winter Gardens, or had loose change falling out of his pockets adding to the percussion due to his enthusiastic cavorting!

Charles was well loved. He inspired a generation of brass players and changed lives. Many would agree with his nephew, who said of Charles: “He was kind, he was loyal, he was hugely talented, he was musically prodigious, he was absolutely hilarious, he was fiercely clever, he could sing ‘Wand’ring Star’ really really low – I’ve never met anyone like him before, and I never will again.”

And one former colleague commented: “Nobody had a greater influence on my career… The word ‘legend’ is thrown around easily, but to many of us music instructors, brass players, musicians and Aberdonians, that is what Charles was and always will be."

Charles is survived by stepdaughters Margaret and Caroline, grandson Oliver, nephews Ben and Nick Foster and their children Charlie, Gordon, Larry and twins Nell and Winnie.

A memorial concert for Charles and Winnie will be held at Trinity Hall in Aberdeen at 2pm on Saturday 23 August 2025.

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