Adrian Boult

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.

8 April 1889

Born on the same birth day (8 April): Alois Brunner • David Wu • Emil Cioran • Jeremy Hellickson • John Fante • Katee Sackhoff • Mary W. Gray • Patricia Arquette • Rachel Roberts (model) • Richard Hatch (Survivor contestant)

Born in the same month (April 1889): A. Philip Randolph • António de Oliveira Salazar • Efrem Zimbalist • Karel Doorman • Louis Rougier • Marie-Antoinette de Geuser • Paul Karrer • Prince Erik, Duke of Västmanland • Stafford Cripps • Tonny Kessler