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Royal Borough Greenwich Civic Awards 2019

Tue 26 March 2019

Principal Anthony Bowne receives Lifetime Achievement Award, whilst flagship venue Blackheath Halls, and jazz professor Byron Wallen win awards for Arts and Entertainment.

The Civic Awards, presented every year by the Royal Borough of Greenwich, are based on public nominations and give the local community an opportunity to celebrate people and organisations who make a difference.

The Lifetime Achievement Award is presented to an individual who has made an outstanding contribution to the borough over at least twenty years, and this year it was presented to Trinity Laban Principal Anthony Bowne for his hard-work and dedication.

As Director of Laban (2003-2005), Anthony played a key role in the 2005 merger with Trinity College of Music, which formed Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance, the largest of the conservatoires in UK higher education. He has served as its Principal since 2010, guiding the conservatoire’s growth and strategy.

On receiving the award, Principal Anthony Bowne comments –

“I was surprised and delighted to receive this Lifetime Achievement Award. I am so proud of the significant contribution the students and staff of both Trinity Laban and Blackheath Halls make to cultural life in Greenwich through our performance programmes, Saturday schools, and our learning and participation work with local schools and in hospitals. As an internationally celebrated centre of excellence, offering world-class training in dance, music and musical theatre, we are committed to providing the wider community with a broad-range of opportunities to engage with the arts, and I look forward to continuing to support this in my role as Trinity Laban Principal, and as Chair of Blackheath Halls.”

Anthony is also the Chair of Blackheath Halls, which received an Arts and Entertainment Award at the ceremony at Woolwich Town Hall on Friday 22 March.

Presented by Mayor of the Royal Borough of Greenwich, Christine May, the award marks Blackheath Halls’ extraordinary contribution to the cultural landscape of South East London. In particular, the positive impact of the £3million renovation, the longstanding Blackheath Halls Community Opera, and the recent Breaking Barriers festivala weekend of activity for all ages that celebrated 100 years of votes for women and engaged a total of 650 audience members and 101 workshop participants and community performers.

Director of Blackheath Halls Gemma Okell comments –

“We are honoured to receive this award, in recognition of Blackheath Halls’ contribution to the local community. Having recently re-opened after major refurbishment to the building, we are more enthusiastic than ever about bringing people together to enjoy shared artistic experiences. Our summer programme features a diverse range of events, including performances by professional artists, Trinity Laban students, and our acclaimed community opera, which this year will be Offenbach’s comic masterpiece La Belle Helene.”

Also honoured with an Arts and Entertainment award was MOBO nominated trumpeter and composer Byron Wallen, who joined Trinity Laban’s thriving jazz department as a professor earlier this year.

To find out more about upcoming events, visit Blackheath Halls’ pages.

For more information on studying at Trinity Laban, visit our Study pages.

 

Image L-R: Christine May, Anthony Bowne, Danny Thorpe (credit: Brian Aldrich)