Vernon Handley Biography

Vernon Handley	Vernon George "Tod" Handley Born: 1930-11-11 Birthplace: London, England Died: 2008-09-10 Location of Death: Monmouthshire Race: White Field: Conductor Famous for: Champion of the music of Bax
Field: Conductor

Vernon Handley was born of Welsh parents into a musical family in Enfield, London. While in school he watched the BBC Symphony Orchestra in its studio in Maida Vale where by his own account he learned some of his conducting technique by watching Sir Adrian Boult. Later the two corresponded in the early 1950s and met around 1958. After Handley's term in the Armed Forces and attendance at Balliol College, Oxford, he became Boult's pupil. During their first meeting he "was put through the worst two hours of counterpoint and harmony that I’ve ever faced" and was then asked how he would conduct a page of a score put in front of him, a problem he solved. (The score, Arnold Bax's third symphony, was also in the program of the first concert Handley gave in London. The orchestra was the symphony of Morley College.[1]) Handley was a devoted champion of the music of Bax during his career.

He was appointed the musical director in 1962 in Guildford, and in twenty-one years there established the Guildford Philharmonic Orchestra, with which he programmed much of Bax's music and made the first recording of the composer's fourth symphony. With the Guildford Philharmonic, Handley also conducted a recording of Gerald Finzi's Intimations of Immortality. He also directed the Tonbridge Philharmonic orchestra. In 1983 he was appointed associate conductor of the London Philharmonic Orchestra. He also served as conductor of the Amsterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, Ulster Orchestra and had assistant conductorships elsewhere, was Conductor Emeritus of the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, and conducted a number of others in concert, for broadcast and for recording. Handley was appointed Principal Conductor of the English Symphony Orchestra in January 2007.

He premiered and recorded premiere performances of works by British composers, including a series on Hyperion Records of the symphonies of Robert Simpson and Sir Granville Bantock; Simpson dedicated his Symphony No. 10 to Handley. He contributed a foreword to Alan Poulton's Dictionary-Catalog of Modern British Composers (Greenwood Press) and to a book on Adrian Boult. He also recorded symphonies by Bax, E. J. Moeran and Charles Villiers Stanford for Chandos Records as well as discs of other orchestral works. Handley recorded the symphonies of Elgar and Vaughan Williams for EMI. Handley also recorded many works by Sir Malcolm Arnold for Conifer Records which have recently been reissued in the UK by Decca Records

Handley was the recipient of numerous awards, such as The Gramophone magazine's Special Achievement Award in 2003; and the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Classical Brit Awards on 3 May 2007 at the Royal Albert Hall.

He was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2004 Queen's Birthday Honours. He held an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Surrey and was a Fellow of the Royal College of Music.

He died at home in Monmouthshire on 10 September 2008. He had been scheduled to conduct the second concert of the 2008 BBC Proms season on 19 July, but withdrew due to ill-health and was replaced by Paul Daniel. After Handley's death Proms' director, Roger Wright, announced that the 10 September Prom concert (the 73rd of the season) would be dedicated to Handley.