ISPA Board Chair Awarded CBE

It is with great pleasure that we congratulate ISPA's Board Chair, the General Director of the Sage Gateshead on his recently being awarded CBE by the Queen her Majesty.  The below press release was distributed on June 15, 2013 by the Sage Gateshead in Newcastle.  This announcement comes just after the news that the Sage Gateshead's Northern Sinfonia was bestowed with the title of 'Royal' by the Queen.  Please help us in congratulating Anthony on these well deserved honors!  ISPA is delighted to have a CBE at the helm of our international network.

SAGE GATESHEAD GENERAL DIRECTOR AWARDED CBE  

Anthony Sargent, General Director of Sage Gateshead, has been awarded a CBE in Her Majesty the Queen’s Birthday Honours List.  

On receiving the honour, made in recognition of his services to the arts, Anthony said the award reflected the team effort that had underpinned the success of Sage Gateshead as an acclaimed regional, national and international centre of music.  

Anthony joined the organisation in 2000 leading the team creating Sage Gateshead as its first General Director – the 5th newly created post he has held in succession. Previously he worked for the BBC as Concerts Planning Manager (responsible for the artistic planning and broadcasting of the BBC Proms, and the work of the BBC Symphony Orchestra) and then as a key member of the management team that created the BBC Millennium Music Live project.  He was also Head of Arts for Birmingham City Council and London’s Southbank Centre’s first Artistic Projects Director after gaining an MA in Politics, Philosophy and Economics at Oxford University where he also held choral scholarships at Magdalen and Christ Church Colleges.  

Anthony said: "I’m thrilled beyond words by this completely unexpected honour, telling us (as it does) how all the work of our wonderful team here over the past decade has grown to be trusted and valued by the community we exist to serve, against the background of some of the most financially challenging times for the arts many of us have ever known.”  

Lord Falconer of Thoroton, Chair of Sage Gateshead, said: "The whole Board is delighted that Anthony’s leadership of Sage Gateshead throughout the whole of its existence has been recognised.  He has done an outstanding and remarkable job in making Sage Gateshead a venue which provides music culture and entertainment of the highest standard for the region.  

"We have a local, national and international reputation. And we bring the benefits of our cultural programmes to all parts of the country through our learning and participation projects.  We at Sage Gateshead know we owe more to Anthony than to anyone else for those achievements.  And we are delighted he has been so deservedly recognised.”  

Councillor Mick Henry, Leader of Gateshead Council, said: "Anthony has played a key role in making Sage Gateshead one of the most recognised and respected music venues in the world so this honour is well-deserved.  

"During his time at Sage Gateshead, the venue has received numerous accolades and this personal honour is therefore a fitting tribute to all his hard work and dedication.  

"It is particularly appropriate that his efforts have been recognised in this way in the same week that Northern Sinfonia were bestowed with the title ‘Royal’.”  

Alison Clark-Jenkins, Regional Director, Arts Council England, said: "I would like to offer warm congratulations to Anthony on receiving this honour. By bringing both world class leadership and programming to Sage Gateshead, Anthony has helped transform the North East over the last decade into a beacon for great art and culture. The impact of his hard work so far will be felt for years to come, and this award is deserved recognition for the commitment he’s shown to Sage Gateshead and the region.”

Anthony is Chair of the New York-based International Society for Performing Arts, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, an Honorary Fellow of the Birmingham Conservatoire of Music and Sunderland University and in 2008 (jointly with Sir Bobby Robson) was awarded the Hotspur Award, given annually to the person who ‘with bold endeavour’ has contributed most to the development of the North East.