Mark Elder

Mark Elder

Mark Elder's booming and effortlessly authoritative voice projects impeccably pronounced English around a packed Bridgewater Hall. As he thanks the ecstatic crowd after a bumper weekend celebration of Elgar's 150th birthday - and his own 60th birthday - with the Hallé, he has every single punter in the palm of his hand. They applaud his every joke and fall obediently silent at the merest of hand gestures.

And well he might bask in a little celebratory pride. When Elder joined the Hallé as music director in September 2000 the orchestra was in serious trouble financially and artistically. A wave of scathing reviews and reports that it was suffering under 'chaotic management, huge debts and a funding crisis' had left the orchestra demoralised and unsure about its future.

Seven years on, the Manchester orchestra has never been in better shape. In 2005 it won the prize for the best ensemble at the Royal Philharmonic Society Awards, and in 2006 Elder followed up that success by taking the award for best conductor. In 2007 the orchestra has shown no signs of slowing down, with the June Elgar weekend gaining a five-star review from The Times, critic Geoff Brown describing it as 'hard to beat'.

Despite finding his birthday 'a bit of an adjustment to accept when I feel about 46 and a half', Elder spent the weekend in visibly high spirits. 'I've been feeling very exhilarated by the events in Manchester,' he says from his London home the following week. 'I'm very proud of the orchestra and there was a lot of excitement in the hall.'

'When I was invited to the Hallé it became clear quite soon that the whole organisation was in a state of insecurity in every way'

Apart from the likeness of their names and the fact that they share a birthday, Elder and Elgar have another thing in common: they both played the bassoon as teenagers. But according to Elder that's about where the similarities stop. He points out that Elgar was brought up a Roman Catholic, whereas he was raised in the tradition of the Church of England, gaining his earliest musical experience as a chorister at Canterbury Cathedral.

The son of a Northumberland dentist, Elder is one of six children. His only older sister played the clarinet but no-one else in the family was very musical, although his mother enjoyed accompanying him to concerts. 'It was born in me,' he says. 'It was just there.'

Elder started conducting as an undergraduate at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge ('but it was a long time before I thought anybody would pay me for it'). His first professional engagements were in Australia in the early 1970s, conducting Verdi operas at the Sydney Opera House. 'I learnt a lot out there about the problems, challenges and rewards of conducting,' he says.

He later became music director of English National Opera, leading the company through what have become known as its 'golden years' alongside general director Peter Jonas and artistic director David Pountney for more than a decade. He also juggled principal guest conductor posts at the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, BBC Symphony Orchestra and London Mozart Players with a post as music director of the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra before being appointed at the Hallé in 2000.

'When I was invited to the Hallé it became clear quite soon that the whole organisation was in a state of insecurity in every way,' he says. 'I was interested because I realised how much there was to achieve. I was drawn to the situation because it seemed there was a long way to grow. I was excited to help the organisation - not just the orchestra - and help the audiences to rediscover the impact that music could have on their lives.'

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