Dame Jane Glover leads the way in New Year Honours
Groundbreaking conductor one of several classical musicians named in 2021 awards
A damehood for conductor Jane Glover and knighthood for opera director Graham Vick have capped a rich haul for classical music in the New Year Honours 2021, which also includes awards for composer Julian Anderson and conductors Daniel Harding and Wayne Marshall.
Glover’s DBE comes shortly a er she was awarded the Royal Philharmonic Society’s Gamechanger Award for her work in breaking new ground for other female conductors. Since being appointed artistic director of the London Mozart Players in 1984, Glover has gone on to become only the third woman in history to conduct at the Metropolitan Opera in New York, has held the position of director of opera at the Royal Academy of Music and is now music director of the Chicago-based ensemble Music of the Baroque.
Graham Vick’s knighthood recognises the exceptional productions of both traditional and modern operas that he has staged at Birmingham Opera Company, which he founded back in 1987. One notable example was his innovative interpretation of Verdi’s Otello in 2009, with Ronald Samm featuring as the eponymous lead – the first black tenor to sing the role in the UK. The immersive staging was set in a former industrial plant, with 250 people from Birmingham performing as the opera’s chorus, dancers and actors alongside the professional principals and orchestra.
Elsewhere, Northern Irish pianist Barry Douglas and Grange Park Opera’s founder and CEO Wasfi Kani have had their OBES upgraded to the CBE, an honour also awarded to composer Julian Anderson and conductor Daniel Harding. And cellist Natalie Clein, organist, conductor and pianist Wayne Marshall and the Royal Northern Sinfonia’s former leader Bradley Creswick have all received OBES.
While the pandemic forced most musicians to experience a quiet 2020, Wayne Marshall turned his home into a recording studio, improvising on themes given to him by his social media followers and recording an album of piano arrangements of choral music by John Rutter. He also streamed weekly concerts from the organ of St Paul’s Cathedral in Valletta throughout lockdown. Conductor Daniel Harding, on the other hand, had his hopes for the year scuppered a er having announced a sabbatical from conducting to become a commercial air pilot. With such plans on hold, he returned to the music world with a series of concerts with the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, of which he is music director.