New Year Honours

[Guest]

With various New Years honours in the news at present, I wonder who fellow boarders might reward (or not), and give some reasons why.......

Consistency award 2010: The choir of St Johns College Cambridge. Nothing short of brilliant every time I tune in.

[Simon]

I'd reward whoever keps on organising the Wood choral courses, which seem to do so much for so many. As well as to the stars, I'm in favour of giving honours to the less famous, who work hard for music throughout the years and don't necessariy get the glory that can accrue to those at wealthy foundations. Or who have pals at the Beeb! ;-)

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Simon, I may be showing my complete musical ignorance here, but the Wood choral courses have completely passed me by. Could you fill me in?

[subcontrabass]

Simon, I may be showing my complete musical ignorance here, but the Wood choral courses have completely passed me by. Could you fill me in?

See http://www.charleswoodsummerschool.org/

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Thanks, Simon. I see your difficulty. You could hardly give MBE's to the entire committee (Anne Boylan, Séan Boylan, Cllr Pat Brannigan, Robert Cardwell, Harry Carson, Elise Crean, Deidre Frame, William Greenaway, Stephen Hartley, Canon Michael Kennedy, William Lauder, Cllr Sylvia McRoberts, Roger Nesbitt, Dean Patrick Rooke, Rodney Spence, Father Eugene Sweeney, Rev Peter Thompson) but I think the director, David Hill deserves an award anyway. I particularly like his underrated Dream of Gerontius on Naxos.

[muticus]

I would like to nominate the person at the BBC who closed down the Messageboards (not that I don't appreciate the hospitality of the present forum of course) for services to Philistinism - The DSO. (In its WW1 incarnation) ;-*

[BBMmk2]

Teachers ofmusic in schools!! My hats off to them!!

[DracoM]

Yes, the BBC's only avowedly high-culture platform, and the only BBC platform that has no messageboard facility at all.

The ultimate salt in the wound is the beefed-up Archers set up, which incidentally was now had more than 3000 messages over several threads of complaint, protest, spitting rage, with listener / techies having had to come to the rescue with the necessary fixes the BBC engineers kindly failed to provide to enable whole sections of the audience to get involved. How's that for a series of spectacular own goals? Bet we don't hear about that little blip on the way OTT Archers trails. Gggrrrrrrr!

Actually, I'd like to see an OBE or better for Martin Handley who for my money is one of the very best R3 presenters. Understated, gently ironic, not self-promoting, and usually spot on.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Teachers ofmusic in schools!! My hats off to them!!

Absolutely. The pressures on them to dumb down are immense.

[ardcarp]

Edward Higginbottom

[StephenO]

Ian Skelly for his thoroughly civilised broadcasting style and for resisting the temptation to become a "celebrity".

[Pianorak]

Stephen Johnson and Sarah Walker - both for their infectious enthusiasm and pleasant voices.

[David Samuels]

I'd have to second the nomination for MH; a constant source of delight.

I'd also like to nominate:

1) Kate Bott for her relaxed but informed style, naturally stemming from her excellent performing background,
2) Richard Egarr for sheer enthusiasm, and
3) The whole of the OAE for showing what an Orchestra can do, time after time after time .... they should be an inspiration to all orchestral players.

[DracoM]

Seconded. But would he want that?

[ardcarp]

Kate Bott for her relaxed but informed style

I'll second that. A lovely presenter.