HE HIT all the right notes as conductor of St Albans Symphony Orchestra (SASO), but after five years Bjorn Bantock has stepped down from the role.

The father-of-two, who moved to St Albans eight years ago, is going on to conduct orchestras around the world, from Denmark to South Korea.

He led his final concert with SASO on Saturday, June 27, and the orchestra played a selection by English composers including Elgar's Lark Ascending.

“It a great disappointment to be going because I’ve really enjoyed working with the orchestra and seen them grow and improve, really out of all recognition," says Bjorn, who is also rekindling his cello-playing career after suffering an injury to his left hand several years ago.

He continues: "Working with the Symphony Orchestra is essentially working with people. That is what a lot of conductors forget. It is not about ego or authority. If you can get people on your side then people will climb mountains for you."

Former chairman of SASO Kieran McGuirk, who died suddenly last autumn, invited Bjorn to take the principal conductor position back in 2010.

"It was nice to do something local, something in the town with a good, full symphony orchestra that was literally just down the road," remembers 42-year-old Bjorn who previously worked with orchestras in his native South Africa, Italy, Malta and Germany.

When I ask Bjorn, who is housemaster at Bedford School, what the highlights of his time with SASO have been, he reels off a long-list of memorable performances.

Among his top concerts were L’Ascension, a 20th Century masterpiece by Messiaen and – most recently – Beethoven’s Choral Symphony in St Albans Abbey in March this year.

“These were memorable occasions when the orchestra as a collective whole played even better than any of its individual members," he remembers.

"The Beethoven was especially moving because it was the concert where we remembered Kieran McGuirk, the orchestra’s chairman for seven years, who sadly died last autumn. It was a terrible shame that he died so suddenly.”

Born in South Africa, Bjorn's love of music began from an early age.

"There was always music in the house and I learned the piano on my mothers’ lap when I was four or five," remembers the musician, who moved to the UK in 1988.

He trained as a cellist, studying at the Stellenbosch University Department of Music and Konservatorium in South Africa, and The Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester.

After falling through a glass door and injuring his left hand, Bjorn found it too painful to play cello for many years.

He went on to specialise in conducting with a five-year course at The Royal Academy of Music in London.

"Music is such an integral part of being a human," muses Bjorn. "It’s my whole raison d’etre."

Bjorn returns to conduct SASO in May 2016. Details: 01727 852768, saso.org.uk