Andrew Jowett, Director of Town Hall and Symphony Hall, Birmingham has been awarded an OBE in HM The Queen’s Birthday Honours for services to music. The honour comes in the year Symphony Hall celebrates its 21st anniversary.
Andrew Jowett was appointed Director of Symphony Hall in 1988 – three years before it opened in 1991 to widespread public and critical acclaim – and also manages Town Hall, having overseen its hugely successful re-opening in 2007. During this time he has helped underpin Birmingham’s reputation as an international centre of cultural excellence, creating an outstanding artistic programme which appeals to a wide audience and establishing the two concert halls as ‘must play’ destinations for visiting artists of all genres. Hosting 600 events and welcoming over half a million people each year, Town Hall and Symphony Hall are a source of great pride to the people of Birmingham as well as being a major asset to the City’s local economy.
Andrew Jowett said “I am immensely proud to receive this honour for leading Town Hall and Symphony Hall Birmingham and it is particularly appropriate this year when Symphony Hall is celebrating its 21st anniversary. Running these two world renowned concert halls is an absolute joy and privilege and, in accepting this honour, I do so on behalf of everyone who has helped make them a major force on the national and international music scene, connecting over half a million people to music every year.”