He was awarded Knighthood of the British Empire in the 2008 Queen's New Years Honors List for his services to music administration for the BBC Proms from 1996 to 2007.
Classical music has had to contend in recent years with a change from it's privileged position in our society to one in which it is repeatedly, and in my view rightly, challenged by pop music, world music, and a vast range of alternative mass entertainment.
