Eric Wetherell b 1925                       www.ericwetherell.co.uk 

 

Conductor, composer, arranger, producer and pianist, Eric Wetherell has led a distinguished career which has spanned more than half a century.

 

He studied at The Queen's College Oxford, under Bernard Rose, Dr Thomas Armstrong, as well as composition with Egon Wellesz. He went on to train as an organist and pianist at the Royal College of Music, studying orchestration with Gordon Jacob, the organ with Harold Darke and composition with Herbert Howells. In his early career as a French horn player, he performed regularly with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra and Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, under such conductors as Sir Thomas Beecham, Sir Adrian Boult, Serge Koussevitzky, Edouard van Beinum, George Szell and Victor de Sabata.

 

As a conductor, Eric Wetherell began as a repetiteur at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, working with such artists as Sir George Solti, Rudolf Kempe, Sir William Walton, Carlo Maria Giulini, Antal Dorati, Jascha Horenstein, Michael Tippett and Benjamin Britten. He became Assistant Musical Director and Conductor with Welsh National Opera and regularly conducted for the various BBC staff orchestras. After a further six years as Musical Director for HTV, he went on to become Principal Conductor of the BBC Northern Ireland Orchestra.

 

His profound enthusiasm for jazz also led to a close involvement with the BBC Big Band, for whom he both arranged and produced. In particular, he was a regular conductor and arranger for the popular 'Friday Night is Music Night' on BBC Radio 2 in the early 1970s. Eric Wetherell is also a keen jazz pianist and played regularly with his quartet, until recent years. In the 70s and 80s he ran two very successful rehearsal big bands in Cardiff and Bristol, on a voluntary basis, both twenty-piece ensembles using local professional musicians.His association with the BBC took him from London to Cardiff and then to Bristol where he was Senior Music Producer until his retirement.

 

However, musicians never stop! He continues to work very actively, particularly as a composer and arranger.