Wed 16 Jul
|East Horsley Village Hall
Change of lecture - Sir Henry J Wood: Founder of the Proms and Master Musician
Without the tireless efforts of Sir Henry J, Wood, British musical life would be very different indeed. Join us to find out more
Time & location
16 Jul 2025, 10:30
East Horsley Village Hall, Kingston Ave, East Horsley, Leatherhead KT24 6QT
About the event
Unfortunately our speaker for next week has been taken ill but we have been fortunate to have Professor Raymond Holden deliver a very interesting alternative lecture in his place.
Without the tireless efforts of Sir Henry J, Wood, British musical life would be very different indeed. Organist, vocal pedagogue, recording artist and conductor were all disciplines that defined this great and indefatigable artist. Aware of the inegalitarian nature of concert life during the late nineteenth century, he set about making music available to the man in the street by founding the Promenade Concerts at Queen's Hall in 1895 with the impresario Robert Newman. Wood was also quick to recognise the potential of the gramophone, as both a means of mass musical dissemination and as a teaching aid
About the speaker
Born in Australia, Professor Raymond Holden AM studied at Sydney, Cologne and London and is both a critically acclaimed and a multi-award winning writer, conductor, broadcaster and lecturer. He has performed with the Philharmonia Orchestra, the Danish Radio Symphony Orchestra, the BBC Symphony Orchestra, the Orchestra of the Emilia Romagna and the New Symphony Orchestra of London, and has been published regularly by Oxford, Cambridge and Yale University Presses, the Royal Academy of Music Press, Hans Schneider Verlag (Vienna) and by ICA, EMI and Warner Classics. Professor Holden has appeared on BBC Television and Radio, Servus TV (Germany), RAI Television and Radio, ABC Classic FM, 3MBS FM, Vision Australia Radio, SRF (Switzerland) and Classic FM (South Africa), and has spoken at many of the world’s leading music and literary festivals, universities, conservatoires and research institutes. He was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) in the 2019 Queen’s Birthday Honours List and is currently Emeritus Professor of Music at the Royal Academy of Music, London.
This event is free to members.
Visitors are welcome to join us - £5 on the door.