SOUTHBANK CENTRE’S THE REST IS NOISE FESTIVAL WINS SOUTH BANK SKY ARTS AWARD Today, Southbank Centre’s ground-breaking The Rest Is Noise festival dedicated to the exploration of music of the 20th century was awarded a prestigious South Bank Sky Arts Award. Announced in a ceremony held at The Dorchester Hotel, London, the South Bank Sky Arts Awards is the only awards ceremony dedicated to celebrating the UK’s towering achievements across all genres of the arts. Winning in the Classical category, Southbank Centre’s The Rest Is Noise festival was praised by the ceremony’s host, Melvyn Bragg, for its achievement in drawing new audiences to classical music and in issuing over 120,000 tickets to the festival. Jude Kelly, Artistic Director of Southbank Centre, said: ‘We set out to stage over an entire year Alex Ross’ extraordinary book that places classical music inside the history of revolutions, politics, war, science, philosophy, economics and social upheaval that was the 20th century. Building collaborations from all parts of the world of classical music, contemporary culture and politics, we wanted to persuade people to enjoy and support works of their own century. With Gillian Moore, Head of Classical Music, leading the curating team and Tim Walker, Chief Executive and Artistic Director of the London Philharmonic Orchestra dedicating his entire year’s repertoire to the project, we were able to build a huge different audience. We now want to ensure that our young emerging composers can reap the benefits of this audience’s new appetite.’ Alex Ross, author of The Rest Is Noise said: ‘Im tremendously pleased to hear that The Rest Is Noise festival received a Sky Arts Award, although I can take no credit for the achievement: the idea for this remarkable endeavour came from Jude Kelly and so many people at Southbank Centre, the London Philharmonic Orchestra, and other organisations who worked furiously hard to bring the concept to life. I was merely an amazed, grateful observer.’ The judges of this year’s South Bank Sky Arts Awards were: Gillian Greenwood, Producer, The South Bank Show and Writer (Panel Chair); Baz Bamigboye, Arts Entertainment Columnist, Daily Mail; Richard Brooks, Arts Editor, The Sunday Times; Matt Cain, Novelist and former Culture Editor, Channel 4 News; John Cassy, Director, Sky 3D; Sarah Donaldson, Arts Editor, The Observer; Manisha Ferdinand, Head of PR Sky Arts, Sky Atlantic & Sky Movies; Boyd Hilton, TV & Reviews Editor, Heat Magazine; Alex OConnell, Arts Editor, The Times; and Archie Powell, Producer, The South Bank Show. southbankcentre.co.uk
Posted on: Tue, 28 Jan 2014 11:10:27 +0000