Ralph Vaughan Williams after Boult, Sargent and Barbirolli are Vernon Handley, Richard Hickox, Sir Mark Elder and Sir Andrew Davis. Record companies with extensive lists of Vaughan Williams recordings include EMI, Decca, Chandos, Hyperion and Naxos. Vaughan Williams refused a knighthood at least once, and declined the post of Master of the King's Music after Elgar's death. The one state honour he accepted was the Order of Merit in 1935, which confers no prenominal title: he preferred to remain "Dr Vaughan Williams". His academic and musical honours included an honorary doctorate of music from the University of Oxford (1919); the Cobbett medal for
Howard Williams (conductor) Hampstead Garden Opera. Howard Williams (conductor) William Howard Williams (born 25 April 1947) is a British conductor, whose international career has ranged from opera and ballet to orchestral and choral work. He conducts throughout Europe and has especial links with Hungary since his appointment in 1989 as Artistic Director and Principal Conductor of the Pannon Philharmonic (formerly Pécs Symphony) Orchestra. Howard Williams was educated at The King's School, Canterbury, New College, Oxford, the Guildhall School of Music and Drama (London) and Liverpool University. While still at school he studied the piano with Ronald Smith and the violin with Clarence Myerscough.