Page 34 - Powerlist 2020

Arts, Fashion & Design Dr Shirley J Thompson OBE

Composer, Conductor and Reader in Music,
University of Westminster

One of Britain’s most innovative composers, Shirley
Thompson has created music for TV, film, theatre, dance
and opera. She made history when she became the first
woman in Europe in 40 years to compose and conduct a
symphony. New Nation Rising: A 21st Century Symphony is
an epic work celebrating London’s thousand-year history.
It is performed by an orchestra, two choirs, solo singers, a
rapper and dhol drummers – nearly 200 people in all.
In 2018, Shirley was commissioned to compose a major
composition to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the
arrival of the Windrush. She also featured in the launch of
the Black Sound exhibition at the Bernie Grant Arts Centre.
Her work has been commissioned for an installation at the
Venice Biennale, and she has worked on a programme for
the BBC about Florence B Price, the first African-American
woman to compose a symphony and have it performed by
the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, in 1932.
In 2016, Shirley won a University of West Indies Luminary
Award for outstanding contribution to culture globally, as
well as a University of Westminster Chancellor’s Award
Duro Olowu for Outstanding Contribution to Research, Academic
Enterprise and Teaching – she is a Reader in Composition
Fashion Designer and Performance at the same institution. Last year she was
awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of West
Indies for global impact on arts and culture.
Born in Lagos to a Nigerian father and Jamaican mother, She also signed a publishing deal with major European
Duro Olowu spent his childhood travelling between Africa publisher Deuss Music, The Hague, making her the first
and Europe. From an early age, his enthusiasm for fashion British composer on their roster.
was inspired by the unexpected mix of fabrics, textures and Shirley is presently Ambassador for Swarovski UK, and
draping techniques of the clothes worn by the women that received Influencer of the Year 2018 at The Black British
surrounded him. Awards. In the 2019 New Year’s Honour List she received an
Like his father before him, Duro studied law in England OBE for services to music.
before returning to Nigeria where he practised for a few
years. On his return to London, he pursued his true
vocation, a career in fashion, starting his eponymous label
at the end of 2004.
His first collection was an instant hit with fashion editors
and buyers worldwide and an international sellout.
It featured the now signature “Duro” dress, hailed by both
British and American Vogue as the Dress of the Year in 2005.
Also in 2005, he won the New Designer of the Year Award at
the British Fashion Awards, the only designer to have ever
done so without a catwalk show.
Duro was also awarded TopShop’s ‘NEWGEN’ sponsorship
for his first three catwalk shows at London Fashion Week,
beginning in 2007. In 2010, he was named Best International
Designer at the African Fashion Awards in South Africa
as well as being one of six finalists for the Swiss Textiles
Award in Zurich.
Duro’s signature is a delicious blend of alluring
silhouettes and sharp tailoring, where original prints are
juxtaposed with luxurious vintage fabrics in ‘off-beat’ yet
harmonious combinations.
He has enjoyed generous support from former American
First Lady Michelle Obama, who often wears his designs.
Mrs Obama also asked Duro to decorate the White House
for Christmas 2015.
Duro was appointed to the Board of Trustees of
The Royal Academy of Arts in 2019.

34 Powerlist 2020