{related_entries id="evnt_auth_1"} {/related_entries} and {related_entries id="evnt_auth_2"} {/related_entries} talk to {related_entries id="evnt_chair"} {/related_entries}

Renowned novelist Philip Pullman discusses his life and musical loves with author and broadcaster Paul Blezard. Members of the outstanding Orchestra of St John, conducted by John Lubbock, will perform Pullman’s favourite pieces.

Pullman is author of the multi-award-winning His Dark Materials trilogy, the first volume of which was turned into the Hollywood movie, The Golden Compass, starring Nicole Kidman and Daniel Craig. He is a winner of the Carnegie Medal, Guardian Children’s Book Award and Whitbread Book of the Year, and has published nearly 20 books. Pullman has written mostly for children, and his other work includes a series featuring Victorian adventurer Sally Lockhart that opens with Ruby in the Smoke. He holds the Honorary Fellowship of the Oxford Literary Festival.

Lubbock is the founder and conductor of the Orchestra of St John. The orchestra’s aim is to bring together outstanding musicians who share an ethos of bringing music to people of all ages and from all walks of life. It has performed with world-famous soloists such as Dame Felicity Lott, Sir James Galway, Yuri Bashmet, Tasmin Little and Stephen Isserlis. Alongside its public performances, the orchestra gives around 40 concerts a year to autistic children and others with learning difficulties through the charity, Music for Autism, founded by Lubbock following the birth of his own autistic son.

This event lasts one hour 40 minutes including a 20-minute break.