"There I was - watching and listening to this beautiful piece of music, and I was just blown away," Angus said. "I remember turning to the fellow next to me and saying 'Wow!' "

As a young chorister in England's famous King's College Choir of Cambridge, Angus performed under Britten's baton numerous times. But he'll be the one waving the stick this week when the Utah Symphony performs Britten's Sinfonia in Provo and Salt Lake City. Angus remains an ardent admirer of the composer he knew in his boyhood, and likes to program his works.

"Musicians loved Britten," Angus said, "because he loved music, and he communicated that. Orchestras loved working with him and found that his music-making was on a whole different level."

Angus will also conduct the "Adagietto" from Mahler's Symphony No. 5 and Anton Bruckner's Symphony No. 4. "It's a heavy evening in the most profound sense, Angus said. "This is beautiful, serious music."

Angus is best-known for his many guest appearances with the major orchestras of the United Kingdom and for directing the orchestra at the Glyndebourne Festival Opera. More a musical generalist than specialist, he revels in classical music of all periods and styles.

"It's a cheat answer, but my favorite is whatever I'm working on," he said. "Once inside a good piece of music, it doesn't matter who wrote it, I get swept away by it. I do have a couple of pet hates, though. I can't bear Berlioz and Wagner - I find them overblown."

Angus is aware that the Utah Symphony's music directorship will be vacant after Keith Lockhart steps down at the end of this season, and he doesn't rule out becoming a candidate for the position - maybe.

"The first time an orchestra and conductor meet, we just wait and see what the chemistry is like," he said. "Sometimes it just clicks between them, and you can sense it. So if I love them, and they love me, we'll take it from there."

Whatever comes of his visit, Angus is looking forward to working with the Utah Symphony, which will be one of his first major orchestral appearances in the United States.

"I'm very excited about coming to a beautiful new place and conducting a very famous orchestra," he said. "It's going to be a fantastic program, and I hope we hit it off well."