Neel was born in
Blackheath, London, and wanted to be a pianist as a child. His mother, Ruby Le Couteur, was a professional accompanist, and his father was an engineer. Neel attended the
Royal Navy's colleges at
Osborne and then
Dartmouth, but left the navy before going to sea in order to study medicine at
Caius College,
Cambridge. He qualified in 1930, and became House Surgeon and Physician at
Saint George's Hospital, London, and Resident Doctor at King Edward VII's Hospital, London. In 1930, while practising medicine, Neel studied music theory and orchestration at the
Guildhall School of Music.
The Boyd Neel Orchestra For Neel, at this stage, music was still a hobby. He conducted amateur groups and formed an orchestra of young professionals, whom he recruited in 1932 from the
Royal Academy of Music and the
Royal College of Music. The Boyd Neel London String Orchestra (later the Boyd Neel Orchestra) made its debut at the
Aeolian Hall, London, on 22 June 1933. The programme included the first performance in England of
Respighi's Suite of Ancient Airs and Dances and the premiere of a new suite by occasional composer
Julian Herbage. After the concert, Neel returned to his surgery and delivered a baby. The second concert, at the same venue, took place on 24 November 1933, and included the first performance in England of the
Serenade for Strings by
Wolf-Ferrari. On 18 December 1933 the orchestra was invited to broadcast by the
BBC for the first time. When
Decca offered Neel and the orchestra a contract, he left medicine to devote himself full-time to music. Neel conducted the first music heard in the new
Glyndebourne opera house in 1934, in private performances, at
John Christie's invitation. The following year, Neel and his orchestra were invited to the
Salzburg Festival, for which Neel commissioned Britten's
Variations on a Theme of Frank Bridge. The orchestra toured Great Britain and Europe until the outbreak of war.
World War II to 1952 During
World War II, Neel returned to medical work and the Navy,
Mátyás Seiber's
Besardo Suite No.2, composed in 1942, was premiered by the Boyd Neel Orchestra at the Wigmore Hall on 3 December 1945. After the war, Neel resumed his musical career, conducting for
Sadler's Wells Opera ('50
Rigolettos' he recalled) from 1944 to 1946 and the
D'Oyly Carte Opera Company for its 1947 and 1948 London seasons at Sadler's Wells, performing the
Gilbert and Sullivan operas. Neel published a book about these experiences called
The Story of an Orchestra in 1950. As well as modern works, the orchestra revived then seldom heard Baroque works by
J S Bach,
J C Bach,
Handel,
Vivaldi,
Torelli and
Geminiani, including the first ever recording of Handel's
Concerti Grossi, Op. 6.
Toronto and later years In 1952 Neel accepted the post of Dean of
the Royal Conservatory of Music at
Toronto,
Ontario. He served in this post for 18 years, reorganising and rebuilding the Faculty of Music at the
University of Toronto. Soon after his appointment he formed the Hart House Orchestra in Toronto and toured with it extensively, at, among other events, the
Brussels World's Fair in 1958, the
Aldeburgh Festival in 1966 and
Expo '67. After this, he became Artistic Director of the
Sarnia Festival Opera House on
Lake Huron. and continues under that name today. Neel was awarded the
C.B.E. in 1953 and was an honorary member of the
Royal Academy of Music. He became a naturalized Canadian citizen in 1961. In 1972, Neel was appointed an officer of the
Order of Canada, "For his contribution to music education in Canada and his achievements as an artist and conductor." After his retirement, Neel worked on his memoirs, which were edited and published posthumously by his friend, J. David Finch. The book also includes an extensive discography of recordings of the Boyd Neel Orchestra and the National Symphony Orchestra conducted by Neel for Decca Records between 1934 and 1979. Neel died in Toronto at the age of 76. ==Publications==