Royalton Kisch

Alastair Royalton-Kisch (20 January 1920 – 21 March 1995), known professionally as Royalton Kisch, was an orchestral conductor in London from 1947 to 1964. He performed regularly in the Royal Albert Hall and the Royal Festival Hall, as well as in other venues across Britain. He also appeared in international concerts in Italy, Greece, Palestine, France and in Austria at the Salzburg Festival. His records appeared on the Decca label and he also performed on broadcasts for the BBC. He was forced to retire from the rostrum in 1964 due to a progressively worsening back.

Alastair Royalton Kisch was born in Marylebone, London in 1920, the son of a solicitor, Ernest Royalton Kisch and Pamela Kisch, née Hart, although his date of birth is often wrongly given as 1919. His father was an early mentor of both Edward Heath and Arnold Goodman. Alastair Royalton Kisch was educated at Heath Mount School in Hampstead, before going on to Wellington College and finally Clare College, Cambridge. His university studies were interrupted by war service. The hyphen in his name was added at his father's instigation in 1938 by deed poll.

Inspired by a concert given by Sir Thomas Beecham and the London Philharmonic Orchestra at Wellington College, Royalton-Kisch, decided to become a conductor, rather than following the family tradition and going into the law. While at Wellington, he and his friend, Michael Heming, were very active musically, with Royalton-Kisch playing the clarinet, conducting the school orchestra and forming a madrigal group. At Cambridge University he was a student of E.J. Dent and elected President of the University Music Society. He was only the second undergraduate ever to conduct the Society's Orchestra, giving performances of Purcell's Dido and Aeneas at the Arts Theatre, Cambridge, in March 1940. He also received permission from Sir Henry Wood to attend the rehearsals and performances of the Promenade Concerts, held at the Queen's Hall, London.

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