What is Adrian Boult?
[[File:Sir Adrian Boult by Ishibashi Kazunori (Royal College of Music).jpg|thumb|Adrian Boult]] [[Knight Bachelor|Sir]] '''Adrian Cedric Boult''' CH (8 April 1889 – 22 February 1983) was an [[English people|English]] [[Conducting|conductor]]. ==Life== ===Early years=== Boult was born in [[Chester]]. He went to school in [[Westminster School]] and studied at [[Christ Church, Oxford|Christ Church]], [[University of Oxford|Oxford]]. He then went to the [[Leipzig]] Conservatory where he learnt to conduct by watching the great [[Hungary|Hungarian]] conductor [[Arthur Nikisch]]. He sang in choral festivals and at the [[Leeds Festival]] of 1913, where he went to watch Nikisch conduct. During [[World War I]] he worked for the War Office, and while he was there in [[1918]] he planned a series of concerts with the [[London Symphony Orchestra]], which included several important new British works including [[Gustav Holst]]'s ''[[The Planets]]'', ''A London Symphony'' by [[Ralph Vaughan Williams]], and Elgar's ''Symphony No. 2''. When Boult was a boy he had already met Elgar. Elgar now wrote to him and said he felt sure the future of his music was safe in Boult's hands. Boult was at the start of a great [[career]] in which he conducted a lot of [[20th century]] British music. ===Birmingham and the BBC=== In 1924 Boult became conductor of the City of Birmingham Orchestra—now the [[City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra]] — and in 1930 he was made Director of Music at the [[BBC]]. When the BBC formed the [[BBC Symphony Orchestra]], Boult also became its chief conductor, combining both jobs. Boult became famous for conducting a wide repertoire, including the very modern-sounding music of [[Arnold Schoenberg]]. In 1933 he married Ann Wilson, the ex-wife of the singer and administrator Steuart Wilson. The marriage lasted until Boult's death. Boult was knighted in 1937. ===War years and after=== During [[World War II]] the [[BBC Symphony Orchestra]] was evacuated to [[Bristol]]. Even there it was not safe from the bombing and t