Forty remarkable years of a Harrogate music legend who is the world’s fourth longest-serving conductor

Bryan Western has come a long way since the day 40 years ago when he first agreed to conduct Harrogate Chamber Orchestra, as Harrogate Symphony Orchestra was known then.

A young music teacher at Harrogate High School at the time, since then he has not only built Harrogate Symphony Orchestra into one of the best and largest amateur orchestras in the whole of the UK but has also become renowned for unexpected feats of showmanship such as arriving on stage on a scooter or conducting from a wheelchair while temporarily paralysed.

As he prepares to conduct the highly-regarded HSO this Saturday at the Royal Hall in Harrogate in his 40th anniversary concert, Bryan Western has been looking back at his action-packed decades with an orchestra which flies the flag for classical music at a time when the genre itself feels a little under threat.

Now a youthful-looking 70-years-old, this larger-than-life character says, as well as a ‘can-do’ attitude, hard work has been the key factor from the day in 1985 he first took up the baton.

"It feels just like yesterday that I was asked whether I was happy to fill in for someone who couldn’t conduct Harrogate Chamber Orchestra’s forthcoming concert.

"The first rehearsal in the music room at Harrogate Grammar School was a bit of an experience; there were only five string players and a tiny wind section.

"What on earth had I got myself into?

"But, by the time of the concert on March 2, 1985 we had 35 players.

"Since then, I’ve acquired a bit of a reputation for never missing rehearsals, except for the time I was paralysed as a result of a flu virus.

"It’s not gone unnoticed by my wife Kathy who had been hoping we would be going on more holidays after we retired!”

The great musical director’s commitment and enthusiasm means Harrogate Symphony Orchestra now boasts more than 100 regular players, attracts top class soloists and has successfully forged links with musicians internationally.

Even when reduced, temporarily, to a wheelchair in 1996, Bryan Western still turned up at a packed Harrogate Convention Centre to conduct a special charity concert.

Few conductors can succeed with what are usually considered to be contradictory approaches to their role – a love of picking daring musical programmes, a great relationship with his players and a penchant for blatant crowd-pleasing.

The man who was selected to be a chorister at Bradford Cathedral aged just nine is the sum of many parts, all of which impact on the character of the HSO.

The decision to arrive at the Royal Hall on a scooter to conduct a performance celebrating the Harrogate leg of the Tour de France in 2014 was purely for fun.

But there have been too many seriously memorable musical moments over the last four decades to mention, though it’s worth noting the time in 2019 when Bryan Western was asked to conduct the world premiere of Howard Blake’s The Snowman Symphony.

The HSO leader may be known for his loud shirts and terrible jokes but he usually has the last laugh.

There have been sold-out notices for the last three Harrogate Symphony Orchestra with audiences of 660 people each time.

Bryan is as surprised as anyone to learn that he is now among a small handful of conductors globally still at the helm of the same orchestra after 40 years.

The credit, he concludes, lies with his players and his wife.

"I still find rehearsals really inspiring at St. John’s School in Knaresborough, even though with 100 players, or so, it is not easy rehearsing in such a small venue.

"They’re hard work but there is such a fun element at the same time.

"I love the bit at the end of a concert when I see the faces of all the performers, knowing that they have ‘played out of their skins’.

"The most important thing is the support of my wonderful Kathy who does so much for the orchestra and has done well to put up with me."