New Year honours celebrate arts professionals

The former Artistic Director of the National Theatre, Sir Richard Eyre, and renowned percussionist Dame Evelyn Glennie are among the arts leaders to be celebrated with an honour in 2017.

They are to receive the Order of the Companions of Honour, held by no more than 65 individuals and the sovereign at any one time. It is a title also held by incoming Chair of Arts Council England Sir Nicholas Serota and ten other leading figures in the cultural sector.

Top awards also went to the DCMS’ Clare Pillman OBE, who has become a Companion of the Order of the Bath; Barry Ife CBE, Principal of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, who has been knighted; and actress Patricia Routledge CBE, who has become a Dame.

Much like last year’s birthday honours, the list of recipients is described as “the most diverse ever”. 9.3% of the 1,197 people to receive an award come from a BAME background, and 8.5% consider themselves to have a disability. These proportions still fall short of figures for the UK population as a whole, which census data shows to be 13% and 18% respectively.

Sector recognition

In theatre, a CBE has been awarded to Rupert Goold, Artistic Director at the Almeida Theatre. Indhu Rubasingham, Artistic Director at the Tricycle Theatre, and Jatinder Verma, co-founder of Tara Arts, were both congratulated with MBE awards.

OBEs have been awarded to Stephen Maddock, Chief Executive of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra; Simon Frith, Tovey Professor of Music at the University of Edinburgh; and Lennox Mackenzie, former chairman of London Symphony Orchestra. They are joined by Anthony Forbes, Chairman of the Royal Choral Society, and Jane Davidson, Director of Outreach and Education at Scottish Opera, who both received MBEs.

Other notable awards in the cultural sector include:

• CBEs for Luke Rittner, Chief Executive of the Royal Academy of Dance; and Jenny Waldman, Director of 14-18 NOW at the Imperial War Museum
• OBEs for Sally Bacon, Executive Director of the Clore Duffield Foundation; Susan Miller, Director of Cultural Services at Glasgow Life; Shona Powell, Director of Nottingham Lakeside Arts; Rosemary Greenlees, Executive Director at The Crafts Council; Caroline Miller, former Director of Dance UK; and Nicholas Logsdail, Director of the Lisson Gallery
• MBEs for Uzma Johal, Co-founder and Producer at Threshold Studios; Stephen Hetherington, founder of the OHMI Trust and HQ Theatres Trust; Karen Brock, founder of Tower Hamlets Arts and Music Education Service; and Anne Smol, founder of Face Front Inclusive Theatre.