MBEs for Anna Lapwood and Margaret Fingerhut among other notable awards
Judith Weir has been made a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in the New Year Honours list, a fitting end to a year in which the Scottish composer’s music has enjoyed an unprecedentedly high profile. In May, Dame Judith’s three-minute orchestral overture Brighter Visions Shine Afar was one of 12 new works performed at the Coronation of Charles III, seven months after she wrote the psalm setting Like As The Hart for the funeral of Elizabeth II. 2024 will see her retire as Master of the King’s Music after ten successful years in post, during which time she has blogged regularly and candidly about matters relating to classical music in the UK.
Fellow composer Paul Mealor, whose Coronation Kyrie was memorably sung by Bryn Terfel during the service at Westminster Abbey, is also honoured – in his case by being named a Lieutenant of the Royal Victorian Order (LVO).
There are OBEs, meanwhile, for soprano Carolyn Sampson, harpsichordist and conductor Laurence Cummings and
James Ainscough, former CEO of the charity Help Musicians; while MBEs go to organist and conductor Anna Lapwood, whose filmed performances have become familiar to hundreds of thousands of fans on TikTok, and pianist Margaret Fingerhut, who has worked tirelessly to raise funds for emergency vehicles in Ukraine. ‘I’ve always aspired to be a musician who does not merely entertain people,’ Fingerhut told Classic FM, ‘but one that can make a real difference to communities in need through the power of music. I look forward to building on my recent work raising money for refugees and am deeply touched that my efforts have been recognised.’
Other high-profile honorees with a melodic bent include Jilly Cooper, author of novels including the classical music-themed Appassionata and Score!, who is made a Dame. And there is also a knighthood for Alexander McCall Smith, best known as the author of The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency series of novels but also a keen bassoonist and co-founder of Edinburgh’s The Really Terrible Orchestra and Botswana’s first opera training centre.
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