30 November 2017
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Antonio Pappano
Past recipients span the likes of Edward Elgar, Benjamin Britten and Cleo Lane
At a ceremony in London on 19 November, pianist and conductor Sir Antonio Pappano was awarded the Honorary Freedom of The Musicians Company.
Over a century and more, The Musicians Company’s Honorary Freedom has been bestowed to the likes of Edward Elgar, Ralph Vaughan Williams, Hubert Parry, Charles Stanford, Henry Wood, Arnold Bax, Arthur Bliss, Benjamin Britten, William Walton, Michael Tippett and more recently Cleo Lane, Janet Baker, Peter Maxwell Davies, Colin Davis and Gillian Weir.
Associated with its widespread support for young musicians across all musical genres, the Musicians’ Company has a long tradition of recognising creative talent and the contribution that distinguished artists have made to the music profession. Each year the Musicians’ Company donates over £200,000 in scholarships and awards in support of young musicians at the start of their careers across all musical disciplines.
The Honorary Freedom scroll was presented by the Master of the Musicians’ Company, Lady Brewer (pictured), at The Company’s Installation Dinner, following the admittance of Sir Antonio Pappano as an Honorary Freeman of the Company.
Although Pappano has been best known in the UK for many years as the music director of The Royal Opera, he is also a pianist of distinction, whose considerable talents at the keyboard can be appreciated on a new Warner Classics disc (below), where he not only conducts the ‘Organ’ Symphony of Saint-Saëns but also joins Martha Argerich for a sparking performance of the Carnival of the Animals.
