John Manduell

Sir John Manduell CBE (2 March 1928 – 25 October 2017) was the founding principal of the Royal Northern College of Music from 1973 to 1996[1] and the director of the Cheltenham Music Festival.[2]

Born in Johannesburg, Manduell studied in Strasbourg and Cambridge before joining the Royal Academy of Music, where his teacher was Sir Lennox Berkeley. From 1956 he worked at the BBC, staying until 1968.[3] He become Cheltenham Festival’s first Programme Director from 1969 until 1994. He was appointed Founding Principal of the Royal Northern College of Music in 1973, a post he held until his retirement in 1996.[4]

In these various roles he actively encouraged and promoted the work of young composers. Some 250 works were presented as a result of commissions by Maundell.[5] Works dedicated to or commissioned by him include Lennox Berkeley's Antiphon (dedicated to Manduell, and performed in Cheltenham on multiple occasions from 1973), the 1983 Elegy and Scherzo Alla Marcia for strings by Gordon Crosse and Another Dream Carousel for string orchestra by Anthony Glibert.[6]

Mandell received the CBE in 1982 and was knighted in 1989. A memoir, No Bartok Before Breakfast, was published in 2016.[7]

As a composer he wrote mostly chamber and orchestral works. Early works include the Belloc Variations for piano and orchestra, performed by soloist Renna Kellaway, his future wife. There is a Viola Concerto from 1964.[8] His String Quartet (1970), the solo clarinet work Prayers from the Ark (1978, first performed by Jack Brymer) and the Double Concerto (for solo Di-zi & Erhu, strings and percussion) were commissioned by the Cardiff Festival. ‘'Vistas’', a large form orchestral work, was commissioned by the Halle Orchestra and Kent Nagano and premiered in 1997.[9] His string octet Rondo for Nine (2005) has been recorded by the Manchester Chamber Ensemble, conducted by Richard Howarth.[6]