FROM humble beginnings in a Lancashire mill town, gifted musician Dr James Eastham played his way to the top of his field.

As he prepared to celebrate an important anniversary, he spoke to Clare Cook...

AS comfortable conducting orchestras as playing in front of live television audiences, Darwen musician Dr James Eastham has enjoyed a celebrated musical life.

He has travelled the world with some of the most prestigious orchestras and even sent the likes of Andrew Lloyd Webber on their way after a spot of tuition.

Now, to celebrate his silver jubilee as musical director of Blackburn Music Society, 69-year-old Dr Eastham will conduct Verdi's Requiem with the Northern Symphony Orchestra.

A heartfelt passion for music began for this son of a milkman and a cotton worker in the industrial streets of Darwen.

"From being five years old I remember playing the piano with one finger, trying out different pitches," he said. "But it was a difficult time.

"It was very much the working class upbringing, with cold rooms.

"I had to go away on National Service but it was good for me and broadened my horizons.

"But I couldn't practice and had no money."

After attending Darwen Grammar School he went on to a four-year piano scholarship at Royal College of London. He decided to study the French horn as a second instrument after hearing professional Dennis Brain perform with "effortless ease."

"I thought it would be easy but it wasn't at all," he said. "It was just the art of illusion!"

But his specialism led to hundreds of live television broadcasts and inspiring performances with the London Mozart Players, London Symphony and Philharmonic Orchestras and the London Chamber Orchestra.

"Those days in East Lancashire were very formative.

"I remember performing once at the Royal Opera House with Peter Clegg, a famous dancer, and he used to live in the same street as me. He would be at the top tap dancing while I was indoors practising.

"Who would have thought 25 years on we would be there together. No crystal ball would ever have predicted that."

Nor would Dr Eastham have predicted his dizzying travels across the world, taking in Sri Lanka, Hong Kong, Australia and Czechoslovakia to name but a few.

"I have been so lucky but I would never have believed as a boy aged 10 that this is how my life would be. But then all I wanted to do was practice."

After 12 years performing from his London base, Dr Eastham launched a career as a university lecturer, becoming director of music at Wolverhampton University, senior lecturer at the Mabel Fletcher Technical College, and at Chetham's School of Music in Manchester.

Among his award-winning students was Jeanette Murphy, who was a finalist in the BBC Young Musician of the Year.

And international stars such as Amanda Roocroft, Jane Eagllen and Joan Rodgers, all gained early experience performing with Dr Eastham.

Among his most prestigious performances are Act Three of Meistersingers at Manchester's Free Trade Hall and Berlioz Grand Messe des Morts at the Bridgewater Hall. In the earlier days he would even lend a hand to the world-acclaimed composer Andrew Lloyd Webber by teaching him the horn before he went to Oxford University to launch his own musical career.

Dr Eastham, who now lives in Stockport, has also conducted the Romanian State Symphony Orchestra and the Northern Symphony Orchestra, and is no stranger to taking to the stage in front of royal guests.

He said: "I work as hard now as ever but it is such a feeling when it all comes together. The worst is when you don't feel like you know the piece well enough and the musicians do not believe in you. If you are found wanting it is a very lonely place to be.

"My favourite piece is always the one I am working on at that time. Like now, I am totally absent minded when I am queuing at the supermarket, going over and over it in my head.

"It is an endless pursuit of excellence -- but I haven't found perfection yet."

And it is the interpretation of music which keeps the charm alive.

"The notes are the same but they have to be transformed and interpreted, which is never the same twice. That feeling is fantastic. I love walking on stage but then you just forget about the audience."

But the allure of classical music is dwindling in a pop-dominated industry more interested in rap than Rachmaninov.

Charlotte Church and Russell Watson are among the few classical performers who have gained mass appeal.

Dr Eastham said: "I think Classic FM has made an immense impact at getting young people interested in classical music. They have shortened radio extracts and have given their full backing to school visits to make classical music more accessible.

"The way forward is for pupils in schools to be given tickets to go so they can live the sensation that is live classical music."

But despite spiralling musical success, Dr Eastham has always stayed loyal to his roots, with an undiminished passion for Blackburn Rovers and Lancashire County Cricket Club. The special Jubilee Concert for Dr James Eastham, featuring the Northern Symphony Orchestra, will be held at King George's Hall, Blackburn, on April 5 at 7.30pm.