Lancelot Beresford Bryan Fairfax (8 February 1925 – 11 January 2014)[1] was an Australian conductor based in the United Kingdom, who was known for his championing of little known or neglected works.
His UK premieres include major works by Gustav Mahler, Dmitri Shostakovich, Carl Nielsen, Sergei Rachmaninoff, Franz Schmidt and Percy Grainger.
[1] He studied at the New South Wales Conservatorium of Music and later in London under Max Rostal,[citation needed] and then became a violinist with the Hallé Orchestra in 1954 for two years.
[5] On 24 June 1961,[6] Fairfax led the Polyphonia in the premiere of Havergal Brian's gargantuan Gothic Symphony, which had been completed 34 years earlier in 1927, but previous efforts to perform the work had stalled numerous times due to the colossal forces it requires.
[13] Fairfax was the organiser of the Percy Grainger Festival held in London in 1970, and along with William McKie successfully lobbied the Australian government for financial assistance.
[15] In February 1972 at the Royal Festival Hall, Fairfax conducted the only professional production of Sir Arthur Bliss's opera The Olympians since its 1949 premiere, which is now available on CD.