Mark Elder was a boy chorister at Canterbury Cathedral before studying at Bryanston School, where he learnt to play the bassoon. As a member of the National Youth Orchestra he played under Pierre Boulez, a formative influence; and gained his first experiences of conducting while an undergraduate reading music at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge. After graduating he worked as a repetiteur in 1969 for the Wexford Festival, before swiftly moving on to the posts of chorusmaster for the Glyndebourne Festival Opera and repetiteur at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, where he worked with Georg Solti and Edward Downes, amongst many others. Downes invited him to join Australian Opera as staff conductor for two years, 1972–1974, after which Elder returned to ...