Sir Humphrey McGuire Burton was born on 25 March 1931 and is an English classical music television presenter, broadcaster, director, producer, impresario, lecturer and biographer of musicians.
12 Facts About Humphrey Burton
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Humphrey Burton performed 18 months of national service in the Royal Corps of Signals before studying music and history at Fitzwilliam House, Cambridge, from 1951 until 1954.
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Humphrey Burton then spent a year in France on a French Government scholarship, researching musical life in the 18th century, before joining BBC Radio as a trainee studio manager in 1955.
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Humphrey Burton was seconded to the Recorded Programmes Production Unit and began regular broadcasts as a presenter of Transatlantic Turntable in 1957.
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Humphrey Burton directed many studio programmes and film documentaries, working alongside Ken Russell, John Schlesinger, David Jones and Peter Newington, rising to the post of editor, in succession to his mentor Huw Wheldon, in 1962.
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Humphrey Burton helped spearhead the BBC's preparation for the opening of BBC2, launched in April 1964, and the following year was appointed the BBC's first Head of Music and Arts.
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Humphrey Burton then worked for eight years in commercial television, being one of the founder members of London Weekend Television, where after a spell as head of Drama, Arts and Music he resigned from management and devised, edited and presented the award-winning arts series Aquarius, the forerunner of The South Bank Show.
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Humphrey Burton returned to the BBC for a second term as head of Music and Arts, creating such long-running strands as Young Musician of the Year and Arena, until 1981, when aged 50 he resigned from management to concentrate on direction: he stayed with the BBC until 1988 as editor of performance programmes and director of Proms and opera relays from the Royal Opera House, English National Opera, Glyndebourne, and Scottish Opera.
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Humphrey Burton worked with other great conductors, including Karajan, Solti, Kleiber, and Abbado, and with pianists including Pogorelic, Brendel and Zimerman.
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Humphrey Burton was guest director of the Hollywood Bowl in 1983 and director of Tanglewood's 70th Bernstein Birthday Bash in 1988.
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Humphrey Burton has been awarded four Emmies and two British Academy Television Awards, the Royal Television Society's silver medal and a Sony Gold Award.
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Humphrey Burton was appointed a CBE in the Millennium Honours 2000.