Thursday 13 March 2008
Gillian Moore Honoured with Prestigious Leslie Boosey Award
The Performing Right Society and the Royal Philharmonic Society have recognised the achievements of Gillian Moore by awarding her the prestigious Leslie Boosey Award which is presented to an individual – not necessarily a composer, conductor or performer – who has made an outstanding contribution to the furtherance of British contemporary music.
Gillian has worked tirelessly bring contemporary music into the community, over a career spanning more than 25 years. Gillian has worked as the Head of 
Contemporary Culture for Londons South Bank Centre since 2006. She was Artistic Director of the London Sinfonietta from 1998 to 2006, combining that post with running the audience development programme Inside Music at the Royal Festival Hall and being a Visiting Professor at the Royal College of Music. Also in 1998, she was Artistic Director of the ISCM World Music Days in Manchester. She was Head of Education at Southbank Centre from 1993 to 1998, developing an approach that integrated educational and artistic activity. 
From 1983 to 1993, she was the Education Officer at London Sinfonietta, the first such post of its kind in the UK.
The Leslie Boosey Award was founded by PRS in memory of its former President of Honour. Leslie Boosey was also a generous benefactor of the Royal Philharmonic Society of which he was a fellow and Trustee. The Award is biennial and past recipients include Colin Matthews, Bill Colleran and Amelia Freedman. The award takes the form of a magnificent bronze eagle that was commissioned from renowned sculptress Dame Elisabeth Frink for the first ceremony in 1980.
The Leslie Boosey Award will be presented to Gillian Moore on 13 March 2008 in the Royal Festival Hall at the start of the Music of Today concert of works by Xenakis, performed by members of the Philharmonia, conducted by Diego Masson.
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CONTACTS
PRS - Catherine George, 020 7306 4777, press@mcps-prs-alliance.co.uk
NOTES FOR EDITORS:
PRS, The Performing Right Society, creating a future for music. As a not-for-profit membership society, PRS ensures composers, songwriters and music publishers are paid royalties when their music is used. Music is everywhere, every day: live performance, TV and radio, CDs, DVDs, downloads, streams and everything in between. Royalties create a future for music by supporting creators while they continue to write. www.prs.co.uk
The Royal Philharmonic Society (RPS) has worked to support the development and performance of music for over 190 years. In recent years the society has worked consistently to support new music in the UK. The society has built strong partnerships within the industry (including BBC Radio 3, the PRSF and Classic FM) to ensure that music reaches the widest possible audience. Support comes in many forms: a series of awards and bursaries for composers and young musicians; support for some of the country’s most forward-thinking music programmes (such as the Philharmonia’s Music of Today and Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival); public debating platforms such as the RPS Annual Lecture; the RPS Music Awards plus the creation of specific RPS projects: Encore, which provides a second chance to hear rarely played contemporary works; Hear Here!, the UK’s first listening project dedicated to classical music and the orchestral residency scheme, Composer in the House. www.royalphilharmonicsociety.org.uk
Music publisher Leslie Boosey became Chairman of the Board of Directors of PRS in 1929 and was one of the chief architects of the Society during its first 50 years. He was appointed PRS President of Honour in 1954, a postion he held until his death in 1979 at the age of 92. Throughout his life, he was a staunch advocate of author and composer rights, both in the UK and internationally. He was an early supporter of CISAC, the International Confederation of Author’s Rights Societies, and was largely responsible for its survival during the difficult days of the late 1930’s and throughout the 1940’s.
Leslie Boosey Award Winners:
1980 John Manduell
1982 John Woolf
1984 Richard Itter
1986 Robert Ponsonby
1988 Carla Hinrichsen
1990 Pierre Audi (Michael Vyner: posthumous plaque)
1992 Richard Steinitz
1994 Stephen Plaistow
1996 Paul Patterson
1998 John Paynter
2000 Amelia Freedman
2002 Bill Colleran
2005 Colin Matthews