IRISH director John Gilhooly has just added the Austrian Cross of Honour to his already bulging list of awards.
A Limerick native, Mr Gilhooly is Director of London’s famous Wigmore Hall concert venue and Chairman of the Royal Philharmonic Society.
Last year he was recognised as one of the most influential people in Britain by the Sunday Times.
Yesterday he had the Austrian Cross of Honour for Science and Art bestowed upon him by the President of Austria’s representative Dr Martin Eichtinger – the Austrian Ambassador to the Court of St James.
The award is for ‘superior creative and commendable services in the areas of sciences and the arts’.
It was created by federal law in 1955 and honours Austrian or leading international figures who have “distinguished themselves and earned general acclaim through especially superior and commendable services in the areas of the sciences or the arts”.
Mr Gilhooly became Director of Wigmore Hall in 2005, making him, then, the youngest leader of any of the world’s great concert halls.
He had been Executive Director of Wigmore Hall since December 2000 and has overseen the artistic, financial and administrative transformation of the Hall over the past 16 years.
His tenure has produced record box office returns and the Hall’s highest ever membership levels and annual fundraising.
As Artistic Director of Wigmore Hall, he programmes the largest chamber music and song series in the world and he is noted for his commitment to outstanding emerging artists, diversity and contemporary music.
His Austrian award adds to an already bulging list of honours the Irishman has received.
In 2013 he was awarded an OBE by the Queen and in 2015 was made a Knight of the Order of the White Rose of Finland by the President of Finland.
He has also received the Order of the Star of Italy, awarded by the President of Italy, while in 2016 he was awarded the German Order of Merit, which is Germany’s highest civilian honour.
He is the recipient of an Honorary Fellowship of the Royal Academy of Music (2006), Honorary Membership of the Royal College of Music (2012), Honorary Fellowship of the Guildhall School (2015), and Honorary Fellowship of the Royal Irish Academy of Music (2016).
The UCD graduate is also patron of the performing arts organisation Irish Heritage, as well as a patron and active fundraiser for the Corpus Christi Church in Covent Garden, the national Catholic Church for performing arts.
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