after conducting local choirs and orchestras he got the opportunity to conduct his own composition "impressions on a windy day" with henry wood’s queen’s hall orchestra, first at leicester and then at the proms in the queen's hall. wood encouraged him in his conducting. he started to teach at the royal college of music and moved to london. he conducted the robert mayer children’s concerts and the courtauld-sargent concerts, a series which was aimed at people who had never been to concerts. he conducted for sergei diaghilev’s ballets russes and, in 1928 he became conductor of the royal choral society, a job which he kept until his death.