Elgar Howarth

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Elgar Howarth (born November 4th, 1935, Cannock, Staffordshire, England) is an English conductor and composer.

Educated at Manchester University and the Royal Manchester College of Music, he has worked with all leading British orchestras, as well as many orchestras worldwide, mostly in Europe. He has conducted many operas, and premiered György Ligeti's Le Grand Macabre at the Grand Opera Stockholm in 1978 and Harrison Birtwistle's Gawain at the Royal Opera House in London (1981).

As a composer and former trumpet player, he writes mainly for brass instruments. Swedish trumpeter Håkan Hardenberger has premiered several of his works on cornet, including his Cornet Concerto, Canto, and Capriccio.

He was brought up in a brass band family and has maintained his interest in the art form. Howarth has made a huge contribution to the modern repertoire of brass band music. Many of his works are recorded, most notably by the Grimethorpe Colliery Band and the Eikanger-Bjørsvik band.

A number of personal copies of works he has conducted (some including annotations) are catalogued at the University of East Anglia's School of Music.