Adrian Brown

Who is Adrian Brown?

Adrian Brown - educated in Ipswich, Suffolk from a distinguished line of pupils of Sir Adrian Boult. After graduating from the Royal Academy of Music in London, he studied with Boult with whom he worked for some years. He remains the only British conductor to have reached the finals of the Karajan Conductors' Competition and the Berlin Philharmonic was the first professional orchestra he conducted. Sir Adrian said of his work: "He has always impressed me as a musician of exceptional attainments who has all the right gifts and ideas to make him a first class conductor".

In 1992, Brown was engaged to conduct the St. Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra. In 1998 he was invited to work with the Camerata Salzburg, at the invitation of Sir Roger Norrington.

Brown has conducted many leading British orchestras including the City of Birmingham Symphony, the BBC Symphony, the BBC Scottish Symphony and the London Sinfonietta. He is also a great proponent of contemporary music and has several first performances to his credit.

Working with young musicians has been an area where Brown has made a singular contribution to the musical life of not only this country, but also in Europe, in Japan and the Philippines. He has been a frequent visitor to conduct both the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain, working closely with Sir Colin Davis and Sir Roger Norrington, and the National Youth Wind Orchestra. He regularly runs courses for young musicians and his success in this general area was recognised when he was given the Novello Award for Youth Orchestras at the 1989 Edinburgh Festival conducting Stoneleigh Youth Orchestra with whom he has been Musical Director for thirty-seven years.