Sir Adrian Cedric Boult, CH was a British conductor. Brought up in a prosperous mercantile family, he followed musical studies in England and at Leipzig, Germany, with early conducting work in London for the Royal Opera House and Sergei Diaghilev's ballet company. His first prominent post was conductor of the City of Birmingham Orchestra in 1924. When the British Broadcasting Corporation appointed him director of music in 1930, he established the BBC Symphony Orchestra and became its chief conductor. The orchestra set standards of excellence that were rivalled in Britain only by the London Philharmonic Orchestra (LPO), founded two years later.
Christ Church, Oxford, where Boult was an undergraduate 1908–12
Gustav Holst, whose suite The Planets Boult premiered in 1918
Boult in the early 1920s
Broadcasting House, London, headquarters of the BBC, where Boult was director of music from 1930 to 1942
City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra
The City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra (CBSO) is a British orchestra based in Birmingham, England. It is the resident orchestra at Symphony Hall, Birmingham in Birmingham, which has been its principal performance venue since 1991. Its administrative and rehearsal base is at the nearby CBSO Centre, where it also presents chamber concerts by members of the orchestra and guest performers.
The City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra at Symphony Hall, Birmingham
The Birmingham Festival Orchestra performing at Birmingham Town Hall in 1845
Granville Bantock, whose 1919 proposal led to the foundation of the City of Birmingham Orchestra in 1920.
Appleby Matthews
