The young Pritchard was educated at the Monoux School and studied violin, piano, and conducting in Italy.
[1] Pritchard, as a conscientious objector, refused to serve in the Second World War, but was in any case unfit on medical grounds.
[1][2] Beyond Glyndebourne, Pritchard appeared with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, at Edinburgh in 1952 (deputising for Ernest Ansermet, who was ill).
[1] In 1957, Pritchard was appointed principal conductor of the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, where he launched the Musica Viva series showcasing contemporary music.
Freelancing after leaving the LPO, he conducted concerts in Berlin, Leipzig, Dresden, Philadelphia and the Far East, and opera in Buenos Aires, Chicago, San Francisco, New York, Salzburg, Florence, and Munich.
[1] Pritchard was a champion of a wide range of new music, conducting the premieres of Britten's Gloriana and Tippett's The Midsummer Marriage and King Priam, all at Covent Garden, and the British première of Henze's Elegy for Young Lovers at Glyndebourne.