Jacob Collier, Jamie Cullum To Become Honorary Members Of The Royal Academy Of Music
Other big names to be awarded membership by the British institution this year will include Beverley Knight and Hilary Hahn.
A variety of leading musicians will be awarded Honorary Membership of the UK’s Royal Academy of Music in 2023. These include recording artist, musical theatre star and recent Olivier award-winner Beverley Knight, celebrated jazz musician Jamie Cullum, and conductor and Music Director Designate of The Royal Opera Jakub Hrůša.
Legendary composer and Visiting Professor of Composition James Newton Howard will receive an Honorary Degree (Hon DMus). Howard is regarded as of the most versatile composers in the industry, with over 100 film and TV credits to his name. With a career spanning over 30 years, he is a nine-time Oscar nominee, and Emmy and Grammy winner. His film scores include Pretty Woman, The Fugitive, Space Jam, Peter Pan, King Kong and The Dark Knight which he composed with Hans Zimmer.
Musicians to be recognized as Fellows of the Royal Academy of Music, an honor reserved for Academy alumni, are pioneering singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Jacob Collier, and prominent opera singers David Butt Philip and Freddie De Tommaso. Musician, music educator and academic Professor Susan Hallam, collaborative pianist Simon Lepper and conductor Jonathon Heyward, who was recently appointed Music Director of Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, complete the list of alumni being celebrated this year.
Her Grace The Duchess of Wellington, Chairman of the Bicentenary Development Board, and Chief Executive of Britten Pears Arts Roger Wright will become Honorary Fellows of the Royal Academy of Music.
The Academy’s Principal, Jonathan Freeman-Attwood CBE, said of the event: “As we look ahead to our third century, I’m delighted to celebrate this outstanding list of honorands who are shaping the future of music. They represent a breadth of musical genres and areas of the profession in which we are very proud to see Academy students excel across the globe.”
