Page 520 - Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Coverage Book 2023-24

The list features honours for composers Paul Mealor and Judith Weir, and a
number of well-known classical soloists, alongside leaders in music education
and charitable work.

Anna Lapwood, the star organist, conductor and music director, has been
awarded MBE (Member of the Order of the British Empire) for her services to
music.

In 2016, when she was 21, Lapwood became the youngest person in history to
hold the director of music position at an Oxbridge college when she became
director of music at Pembroke College, Cambridge.

The organist’s social media videos, which frequently showcase chance
encounters with her instrument featuring Ludovico Einaudi, Benedict
Cumberbatch and beyond have received millions of views. She has been credited
for bringing new audiences to organ and church music, and was recently named
one of TikTok’s 2023 Breakthrough Artists.

Within her role as choral conductor and concert soloist, Lapwood has
championed girls’ choral singing, as well as women composers and
organists.lassic FM

“I still can't quite believe it, if I’m honest. It was a total surprise,” Lapwood told
Classic FM on Friday. “I remember I had just gone to pick up my post from the
Porters’ Lodge at Pembroke, was leafing through my letters, and saw one
marked ‘On His Majesty's Service’ – I've never ripped something open that fast in
my life!”

“I cried when I realised what it was. When you work as a musician, so much of
what you do isn’t quantifiable or finite – your work on a certain piece is never
‘finished’, and your playing is always changing and developing. Receiving this
award feels like something concrete – a deeply significant moment in my
musical journey.”

Other recipients honoured in His Majesty’s 2024 list include Welsh composer
Paul Mealor, who is awarded a LVO (Lieutenant of the Royal Victorian Order)
and Judith Weir, made Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire.
Both Mealor and Weir wrote choral music for The King’s Westminster Abbey
Coronation in May 2023.

Soprano Carolyn Sampson, who in December released her 100th recording,
harpsichordist and conductor Laurence Cummings, and James Ainscough,
former CEO of the charity Help Musicians, are all awarded OBE (Officer of the
Order of the British Empire).