Vernon George "Tod" Handley, born November 11, 1930, in Enfield, Middlesex, England, died September 10, 2008, in Skenfrith, Monmouthshire, Wales, was an English conductor. Handley studied double bass, trombone, and violin at the Guildhall School of Music, conducting amateur ensembles while working daytime jobs. Handley secured his first professional post with the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra in 1960 before being appointed musical director of the Guildford Philharmonic Orchestra in 1962, where he premiered and recorded Arnold Bax's Symphony No. 4 and Gerald Finzi's Intimations of Immortality. Handley served as Associate Conductor of the London Philharmonic Orchestra starting in 1983, Principal Conductor of the Ulster Orchestra from 1985 to 1989, Chief Conductor of the Malmö Symphony Orchestra from 1986 to 1988, and Principal Conductor of the English Symphony Orchestra starting in 2007. His recordings of Edward Elgar's Pomp and Circumstance Marches, Ralph Vaughan Williams's symphonies, and the complete symphonies of Robert Simpson earned him the Gramophone Special Achievement Award in 2003 and the Classical BRIT Lifetime Achievement Award in 2007. Handley was appointed a CBE in 2004, and the 2008 BBC Proms concert Prom 73 was dedicated to him following his death.
