Joseph Vandernoot (18 October 1914 – 7 June 1999) was a British conductor who worked with many orchestras and opera companies, and was one of the earliest conductors of opera at the Holland Park open-air theatre in London. After studying at Guildhall School of Music and the

Royal College of Music The Royal College of Music is a music school, conservatoire established by royal charter in 1882, located in South Kensington, London, UK. It offers training from the Undergraduate education, undergraduate to the Doctorate, doctoral level in a ...

, Vandernoot joined the Royal Artillery and worked for some time for

ENSA The Entertainments National Service Association (ENSA) was an organisation established in 1939 by Basil Dean and Leslie Henson to provide entertainment for British armed forces personnel during World War II. ENSA operated as part of the Navy, ...

. For five years Vandernoot was the Musical Director of

Ballet Rambert Rambert (known as Rambert Dance Company before 2014) is a leading British dance company. Formed at the start of the 20th century as a classical ballet company, it exerted a great deal of influence on the development of dance in the United Kingd ...

. He also conducted the Orchestre National de Monte Carlo and the Valencia Provincial Orchestra. Vandernoot was the musical director of the Fulham Municipal Orchestra for nearly 30 years, and of the Hammersmith Municipal Opera, the first municipal opera company in Great Britain. With these two ensembles he gave the UK premiere of Puccini's opera ''Edgar'' (1905 version) in

Fulham Town Hall Fulham Town Hall is a municipal building on Fulham Road, Fulham, London. It is a Grade II* listed building. History The building was commissioned by the Parish of St John to replace an existing vestry hall in Walham Green. The site chosen had p ...

in 1967. In 1973 he recorded Sullivan's ''Ivanhoe'' with the Beaufort Opera, and the recording was released by the "Rare Recorded Editions" and "Legends" labels. He founded the Opera Lirica which performed at the Holland Park open-air theatre from 1987, and also founded the Kew Sinfonia.

References

Related websites

Fulham Symphony Orchestra
(amateur orchestra, formerly the Fulham Municipal Orchestra)
Kew Sinfonia
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vandernoot, Joseph British male conductors (music) 1914 births 1999 deaths 20th-century British conductors (music) 20th-century British male musicians