Very early in his student career at the Guildhall School of Music, Carewe gave up his original intention of being a composer and turned to conducting.
His teachers, nevertheless, were all composers: Walter Goehr and Max Deutsch (both Schoenberg pupils), Messiaen (with whom he studied in Paris on a French Government scholarship) and Pierre Boulez.
[8][9] In 1966, at the invitation of Sir William Glock, Carewe became principal conductor of the BBC Welsh Orchestra,[1] and held the post until 1971.
[12] In 1996, he was involved with Sir Simon Rattle and Daniel Harding in six performances of Gruppen in Birmingham, London and Vienna.
[13] From 1993 to 1996, Carewe was Generalmusikdirektor (General Music Director) of the Chemnitz Opera, which encompassed its resident orchestra, the Robert-Schumann-Philharmonie.