Our annual Congregation of Awards took place on Tuesday 5 December and we were delighted to award Honorary Membership (HonRNCM) to Dame Patricia Routledge, Carole Nash OBE, Jonathan Groves and Martin Vander Weyer.
Perhaps best-known for her roles as Hyacinth Bucket in the classic sitcom Keeping up Appearances and Kitty in Victoria Wood’s As Seen on TV, Dame Patricia Routledge has also enjoyed a successful career in musical theatre dating back to the 1950s. She made her Broadway début in How’s the World Treating You in 1966 and in 1968 won a Tony Award for her role in Darling of the Day. Twenty years later, in 1988, she picked up an Olivier Award for her portrayal of the Old Lady in Bernstein’s Candide.
Entrepreneur and philanthropist Carole Nash OBE founded Carole Nash Insurance Consultants in 1985 as a vintage and classic motorcycle insurance specialist. She later moved into the modern bike sector and then onto classic car insurance. One of our most loyal advocates, Carole generously supported the £1m transformation of one of our main performance spaces, now known as the Carole Nash Recital Room.
Since 1976 RNCM Governor Jonathan Groves has been a director of the international artist management company Ingpen and Williams Ltd. During this time he has been responsible for the worldwide management of many distinguished artists including Sir Mark Elder, Sir Edward Downes, Alfred Brendel, Elisabeth Söderström, Dame Anne Evans, Yvonne Minton, and Sir Donald McIntyre – and several RNCM alumni such as Graham Vick, Sian Edwards, Joan Rodgers and Amanda Roocroft. Jonathan was also a founding board member of the Young Concert Artists Trust and served for many years as Chair of the Opera Committee of the International Artist Managers’ Association.
Writer, arts promoter and performer, Martin Vander Weyer, is business editor of The Spectator magazine, a regular contributor to The Daily Telegraph and other national publications, and the author of a number of books and plays. As well as being a member of our Board of Governors, Martin is also a trustee of Opera North and was formerly Director of Helmsley Arts Centre in North Yorkshire and Chairman of Ryedale Music Festival.
