Robert Chesterman

Award-winning CBC Radio producer and filmmaker Robert Chesterman grew up in southern England, in the London suburb of Purley (near Croydon). He attended Ardingly College, a boarding school in the nearby county of Sussex, for what he once described as an "undistinguished schooling". At a time when corporal punishments such as canings were common practice, the mischievous redhead with artistic sensibilities had a trying time of "prep school" compared to his only (older) brother David, who played rugby and went on to turn his top marks into a highly successful career as a London-based lawyer (eventually becoming Secretary of Shell Oil). Robert studied piano with Percy Taylor and George Oldroyd at the encouragement of his mother Mildred, a pianist herself who recognized his musical aptitude and keen ear. The death of his distinguished father, who died when Robert was 16, affected him profoundly - as did the untimely loss of many close friends during his brief but eventful stint with the Royal Air Force (stationed in Rhodesia). He moved to Vancouver, Canada in 1957 in search of fulfillment and opportunity - in what, he did not yet know. He arrived at Vancouver International Airport amid a typical west-coast downpour, with very little money and the names of just 2 local contacts whom he had yet to meet. Two years later, Chesterman joined the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation {CBC) as a fledgling producer and became the host of "Music Diary", a weekly national radio magazine. He found his niche as a director and facilitator of quality radio programming from his earliest years with the CBC. He headed up the CBC's 'Sunday Night,' 'Saturday Evening','Monday Evening,' 'Audience' and 'Monitor' series, thereby bringing an international musical culture - as well as superlative dramatic and literary talent - to a receptive audience of listeners who were treated to first-class realizations of works by gifted artists. "Rob"'s innate respect for, and understanding of, artistic temperaments - along with his instinctual abilities as a director - allowed him the privilege of working with some of Canada's best theatrical performers: Peggy Ashcroft, Doris Chillcott, Joy Coghill, Peter Haworth, Otto Lowy, Betty Phillips, Kate Reid, Bill Reiter, Eric Schneider, John Neville are just a few of the actors who converged under his gentle direction, helping to establish CBC Vancouver's state-of-the-art recording studios as a major center for broadcasting brilliance. At the heart of these creative hubs were some exciting original scores masterfully translated into radio broadcasts by both emerging and established writers - many of whom are considered today to be among the leaders of Canada's literary landscape. Margaret Hollingsworth, Laurence Gough, John Gray, Don Mowatt, John Murrell, David Watmough, George Woodcock... The long list of contributors with whom Chesterman worked was, he often remarked, one of the standout highlights of working as a CBC producer. Chesterman's dual interest in music and theatre led him to produce an 8-part series of radio dramatizations on the lives of Mahler, Bruckner, Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven, while his features on the Chicago and Philadelphia orchestras were models of their kind. He produced many large-scale musical features recorded for radio in Europe and North America, and he holds various awards from the Canadian Music Council and Ohio State University. From 1964-76 Chesterman produced radio profiles of eminent conductors (Ansermet, Bernstein, Boult, Klemperer, Ormandy, von Karajan and Walter), and from his interviews for this series he prepared his first book (Conversations with Conductors, London 1976). Further work with conductors (eg. James Levine) led to his second book in 1990. In 2007, he combined both books into one volume to publish Conductors in Conversation: The Complete Collection: an exemplary and fascinating volume that continues to receive rave reviews. Chesterman's documentary on the choir at King's College, Cambridge, was a highlight of 'CBC Tuesday Night' and the subject of his first Prometheus Films release 'The Boast of Kings (1981)'. The film went on to win a New York Film Festival award. Following his retirement from the CBC in 1989, Chesterman continued to work as an independent producer and director of films - with his own company, Prometheus Productions - and radio programs such as 'Vienna's Golden Autumn' (1989) for the Ideas series. He directed 'Which Way to Carnegie Hall? (1986)', a study of gifted musical children, and produced and directed 'Summer Song (1988)', a feature film about the British Columbia Boys' Choir on tour in the Netherlands. 'McGill, Mahler and Montreal (1997)' and 'More Than a Thousand Kisses (2000)' are two more stand-out titles released by Prometheus Films. After a brave but brief fight with pancreatic cancer, Robert Chesterman succumbed to the disease at Vancouver General Hospital on June 1st, 2007. He was 76.