Here’s where you could help us. Nowadays, we feature the biographies of our conductors regularly in our concert programmes. Back in the 1920s and 1930s they barely got a mention. So we know that J Fletcher Sykes took up the baton as conductor in 1920 and that he was succeeded ..read more
HPO Conductors:
Previous Leaders of the Orchestra:
Past Presidents:
2007-09 Mr Chris Leyland
2005-07 Dr Donald Ireland
2003-05 Mrs Karen Moyle
1999-2001 Mrs Karen Moyle
1996-98 Mr G. H. Smith
1994-96 Mr Stuart Sandys
1986-88 Mr J Gordon Sykes
1984-86 Mrs J M Jameson
The orchestra was founded by the Rev J.H. Thomas in 1862, going at first under the name of “Mr Thomas’s Band”. Later it took on the rather grander title of the “Fitzwilliam Street Philharmonic Society”, and adopted its present name shortly after the founder’s death in 1884, giving its first ..read more
An die Musik
2004 marked the 50th anniversary of an Anglo-German exchange between Huddersfield and Brunswick (Braunschweig). In September 1954, the Brunswick Symphony Orchestra (Conductor: Fritz Glahe; Leader: Hans Buttner; Cello Soloist: Annlies Schmidt) performed a programme of Gluck, Haydn and Beethoven in Huddersfield Town Hall. They also performed in Halifax ..read more
Most people know the story of the sinking of the Titanic… and that the band played on nobly as the ship went down. What you may not know is that the band leader – Wallace Hartley – was a former member of the Phil.
He appears to have ..read more
Just My Bill
This extract from a newspaper article from the 1890s throws some light on William Henry Cross, the first conductor of the “Phil” under its new name (adopted in 1884). The article was supplied by Margaret Hall, an Australian descendant of Mr Cross, and reads:
“Although the composer is doubtless ..read more
Casey Jones
In June 1976, the “Phil” was on its travels again. This time to a rather unusual venue. Composer Arthur Butterworth (also the orchestra’s conductor at the time) recollects:
“The National Railway Museum having recently been opened, there was a notion that railways could provide a topical theme for the York ..read more