RTÉ Concert Orchestra general manager Alex Walden on connecting with an audience, receiving his first guitar and living on in your descendantsAlex Walden with the RTÉ orchestra John O'ConnorSun Aug 09 2026 - 06:00 • 4 MIN READHow agreeable are you?I think I’m quite agreeable. In my industry there’s always this sense of you need to make it happen. I think you have to be relatively agreeable. It’s that thing of I always feel like the answer’s yes, but what’s the question? You have a responsibility to look after an orchestra. They’re creative human beings. So you can’t always say yes, but in terms of being agreeable, I’ve always had that thought of, we should try and make that work. Sometimes there’s limits. You know, you hear of a string quartet playing from helicopters, but there has to be common sense too.What is your middle name and what do you think of it?Robert. After my godfather. My dad’s best friend from school. He was a musician and in later life, wrote radio plays and books. And so I like the fact I’m named after him. Who knew that I would end up in a similar field to him. I like the association of it more now and the connection to what I do now. Where is your favourite place in Ireland?I come from a part of the UK that’s very flat. A tree is an event. So at the moment my favourite place is just Ireland. Because I can look out my window at home here in Dublin and I see mountains and I see hills. Also RTÉ in Donnybrook, there’s creativeness that just creeps out of the walls there. You feel like things can happen. Describe yourself in three wordsConnection. It really drives me. By connecting to the people I’m working or with the audience. You can do a really great concert and that’s all fun. But when there’s a level of connection when performing and something special happens, so connections is a really important word for me. I’m positive. The third would be dedication. I just want the world to know that this type of music is still here. Come and hear it. Come and see it. When did you last get angry?I don’t think anger serves a purpose. But sometimes I might get angry when I see incredible ability from someone in a group and it’s not being picked up. It’s not being understood. Talent being overlooked because it doesn’t fit the narrative or doesn’t fit the moment.What is your strongest childhood memory?Music’s always been a big part in the house where I grew up. I remember getting my first guitar. It was Christmas Day, and I remember I learned one chord, which was E minor, and I strummed it all day to every record my dad put on. It wouldn’t have fitted in any song and the key would have been wrong, but I sat and strummed all day because that was the one only I had, and I really remember that distinctly. What have you lost that you would like to have back?I think all my grandparents. There are characteristics that each of my grandparents had that I can see in me and I’m like a blend of all of them. I wish they were around a bit longer to be with them. Where do you come in your family’s birth order and has it defined you?I’m the eldest of two. I think my younger sister would have more of a sense of me as the eldest sibling. I’ve always been relatively responsible. I think there was a sense of calm that I’ve got. I also like to spend a lot of time on my own. I remember having a little record player and I just listened to that a lot. I think I was always the calmer one. My sister might argue differently. When do you think you were happiest?I think back on my childhood and I didn’t have the issues people have when you’re older. But I did think of a recent happy memory because with a new job, in a new country, I’ve got older kids back in the UK, and they all sent me Father’s Day cards. Because I’m on the other side of the Irish Sea and away from them, the messages were so special to me. What do you think happens when we die?I think we all live on in our interactions with the people we leave behind. Like my grandparents, I feel I’m a little bit of all of them. I’ve got characteristics of all four. Luckily, it feels to me that it’s their influences through me. They’ll live on because it’s how I live. I’d like to think that’s how my children will live when I’m gone.Which actor would play you in a biopic about your life?Toby Jones. I remember working with him and he’s such a nice guy. While he’s not particularly tall in stature, his aura was huge. Details of the RTÉ Concert Orchestra’s new season are hereIN THIS SECTION