The Indian Panorama

Tag: King Charles

  • CELEBRATE ROYAL PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA’S 80TH ANNIVERSARY WITH VIOLIN VIRTUOSO RAY CHEN

    Royal Philharmonic Orchestra with Ray Chen in inset. (Credit: njpac.org.)

    By Mabel Pais

    The Washington Post raves:  “Ray Chen can do pretty much anything he wants on the violin.”

    THE ROYAL PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA (RPO) celebrates its 80th anniversary returning to the New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC) on Sunday, January 25 at 3 PM.

    Virtuoso dynamo RAY CHEN is the soloist in Tchaikovsky’s blazing Violin Concerto. Under the baton of the brilliant conductor Vasily Petrenko, hear this legendary ensemble also perform the bracing Second Symphony of Sibelius.

    “The flourishing partnership between Vasily Petrenko and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra is vital in both senses of the word. Together they are making indispensable music in performances that are invariably alive, deeply considered and anything but routine…a shattering performance of volcanic power.” – Bachtrack

    “Vasily Petrenko leads an orchestra who play with palpable hunger for him.” The Times, May 2025

    Under the baton of the brilliant Vasily Petrenko, hear the UK’s most in-demand orchestra perform Nielsen’s ‘Helios’ Overture, Sibelius’s Symphony No. 2, and Tchaikovsky’s blazing Violin Concerto featuring guest soloist Ray Chen. The Washington Post raves: “Ray Chen can do pretty much anything he wants on the violin.”

    PROGRAM

    Helios Overture, Op.17
    Carl Nielsen

    Violin Concerto in D major, Op.35
    Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

    Symphony No.2 in D major, Op.43
    Jean Sibelius

    Vasily Petrenko, Conductor
    Ray Chen, Violin
    Royal Philharmonic Orchestra

    PRE-SHOW TALK – 2 PM

    Join the team for the Classical Overtures, held an hour prior to the classical concert. This interactive presentation is hosted by Maestro George Marriner Maull of New Jersey’s Discovery Orchestra and is free to ticket holders.

    The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (RPO)

    As well as a busy schedule of national and international performances, the Orchestra enjoys an annual season of concerts in London’s Royal Albert Hall (where the RPO is Associate Orchestra), the Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall and Cadogan Hall, where it recently celebrated its 20th Season as Resident Orchestra. The RPO was the first UK orchestra to launch its own record label achieving well over 50 million streams of its recorded music each year. The RPO is recognized as one of the world’s most open-minded, forward-thinking and accessible symphony orchestras. Learn more at https://rpo.co.uk.

    Patron: HM King Charles III

    President: Aline Foriel-Destezet

    Music Director: Vasily Petrenko

    Artist Laureate: Sir John Rutter CBE

    Associate Conductor: Emilia Hoving

    Composer-in-Association: Joe Hisaishi

    The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (RPO), with Music Director Vasily Petrenko, is on a mission to bring the thrill of live orchestral music to the widest possible audience. The RPO’s musicians believe that music can – and should – be a part of everyone’s life, and they aim to deliver on that belief through every note. Based in London and performing around 200 concerts per year worldwide, the RPO brings the same energy, commitment and excellence to everything it plays, be that the great symphonic repertoire, collaborations with pop stars, or TV, video game and movie soundtracks. Proud of its rich heritage yet always evolving, the RPO is regarded as the world’s most versatile symphony orchestra, reaching a live and online audience of more than 70 million people each year.

    Innovation is in the RPO’s genes. Sir Thomas Beecham, who founded the RPO in 1946, was a force of musical nature: an entrepreneur, a wit and a conductor of great integrity, and he believed that great music-making belonged to everyone and that Britain needed an orchestra that was as adaptable as it was brilliant. This vision has remained integral to the RPO’s approach. The RPO was one of the first orchestras to set up a community and education programme, RPO Resound, and the first orchestra to create its own record label, as well as the first to travel to America post-COVID-19.

    Throughout its history, the RPO has performed with the world’s most inspiring musicians, including André Previn, Yehudi Menuhin, Yuri Temirkanov and Vladimir Ashkenazy, as well as icons such as Kylie Minogue, Shirley Bassey, Deep Purple, Def Leppard and Rod Stewart. And not just musicians, either. From British movie classics such as ‘The Red Shoes’ and ‘The Bridge on the River Kwai’ to the anthem for the UEFA Champions League, the RPO has been part of the soundtrack to millions of lives, sometimes without people knowing it. The Orchestra has continued to embrace advances in digital technology and attracts a growing global audience for its streamed performances, artist interviews, ‘behind-the-scenes’ insights and other digital output. Each year, the RPO’s recorded music is streamed over 50 million times, has 17 million views on YouTube, and the Orchestra welcomes around 200,000 audience members to its live performances.

    But live performance has always been at the heart of what the RPO does, and through its thriving artistic partnership with Vasily Petrenko, the RPO has reaffirmed its status as one of the world’s most respected and in-demand orchestras. In London, that means flagship concert series at Cadogan Hall (where the RPO’s residency is 21 years young this season), the Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall, and the iconic Royal Albert Hall, where the RPO is proud to be an Associate Orchestra. The Orchestra is also thrilled to be resident in four areas of the UK, performing at The Hawth in Crawley, Hull City Hall, Northampton’s Royal & Derngate and The Hexagon in Reading.

    Recent concert highlights have included performances of all three of Mahler’s epic choral symphonies at the Royal Albert Hall, appearances at the BBC Proms and Edinburgh International Festival, and concerts within leading European festivals, such as the George Enescu, Lucerne, Merano and Grafenegg festivals. Artistic partners have included Joe Hisaishi (RPO Composer-in-Association), Anne-Sophie Mutter, Yunchan Lim, Julia Fischer, Eric Lu, Maxim Vengerov, Roderick Williams OBE and the RPO’s 2024–25 Cadogan Hall Artist-in-Residence Johan Dalene, among many others. During the 2025–26 Season, the Orchestra looks forward to welcoming Ray Chen, Midori, Benjamin Grosvenor, Boris Giltburg, Artist Laureate Sir John Rutter, Associate Conductor Emilia Hoving and Cadogan Hall Conductor-in-Residence Kevin John Edusei. And around the world, the RPO will be flying the flag for the best of British music-making, with tours to Japan and South Korea, Germany, Italy, Spain, Switzerland and the USA.

    The RPO remains true to its pioneering, accessible roots. Now in its fourth decade, the RPO Resound community and education programme continues to thrive as one of the UK’s – and the world’s – most innovative and respected initiatives of its kind. And in 2025, the RPO moved its headquarters to Wembley Park in the London Borough of Brent – the realisation of a long-held ambition to become part of the everyday life of a diverse community and audience that the Orchestra is seeking to serve.

    Passionate, versatile and uncompromising in its pursuit of musical excellence, and with the patronage of His Majesty King Charles III and the artistic leadership of Vasily Petrenko, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra continues to build on an enviable heritage to scale new heights. The Orchestra looks to the future with a determination to explore, to share and to reaffirm its reputation as an orchestra with a difference: open-minded, forward-thinking and accessible to all. Sir Thomas Beecham would have approved.

    Mabel Pais writes on The Arts and Entertainment, Spirituality, Social Issues, Education, Business, Health and Wellness, and Cuisine.

  • Indian-origin ‘unsung heroes’ on King Charles’ 2025 New Year Honors List

    Indian-origin ‘unsung heroes’ on King Charles’ 2025 New Year Honors List

    LONDON (TIP) : Community leaders, campaigners, academics and medics are among over 30 Indian-origin professionals to be  recognized in King Charles’ 2025 New Year Honors List released in London in time for New Year’s Eve. Ranil Malcolm Jayawardena, a Conservative member of Parliament of Sri Lankan and Indian heritage, has been conferred a Knighthood for political and public service along with recently resigned England men’s football team manager Gareth Southgate, for services to the game

    London Mayor Sadiq Khan and former West Midlands Mayor Andy Street are also among those receiving Knighthoods among more than 1,200 recipients on the 2025 honors list released on Monday night across all sectors, with commendation to role models in sport, healthcare, academia and voluntary service.

    “Every day, ordinary people go out and do extraordinary things for their communities,” UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said.

    “They represent the very best of the UK and that core value of service which I put at the center of everything this government does. The New Year Honors List celebrates more of these unsung heroes, and I thank them for their incredible contribution,” he said.

    The list, released annually by the Cabinet Office in the name of the British monarch, includes Commanders of the Order of the British Empire (CBEs) for Satwant Kaur Deol for services to further education, Charles Pritam Singh Dhanowa OBE for services to Competition Law, and surgeon Professor Sneh Khemka for services to healthcare, science and innovation and technology.

    Others of Indian heritage receiving CBEs include Leena Nair, Global Chief Executive Officer of Chanel, for services to the retail and consumer sector; Mayank Prakash, President of the British Computing Society, for services to the advancement of technology professionals; and Purnima Murthy Tanuku OBE, chief executive of the National Day Nurseries Association, for services to early years’ education.

    Among the 2025 Indian-origin Officers of the Order of the British Empire (OBEs) include cardiologist Professor Sanjay Arya for services to black and minority ethnic doctors and healthcare in north-west England; Nandini Das, Professor of Early Modern Literature and Culture and Tutorial Fellow at Exeter College, University of Oxford, for services to interdisciplinary research in the humanities and to public engagement; Tarsem Singh Dhaliwal, CEO of Iceland Foods, for services to the Welsh economy, retail and charity; Jasmine Dotiwala for services to broadcasting, music, equality, diversity and inclusion; Monica Kohli, President of Women’s International Shipping and Trading Association UK and Chair of the Indian Maritime Association UK, for services to promoting diversity in the maritime industry; and Soumya Majumdar from the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) for services to law and order.

    Others making the cut for OBEs include Seema Misra for her campaign in favor of scandal-hit sub postmasters, Prime Minister’s diary manager Ushma Manhar Patel MBE, mental health campaigner Gian Singh Power and Sravya Rao from the Department for Business and Trade for Public Service.

    Philanthropist Mandeep Kaur Sanghera, UK Ministry of Defense professional Savraj Singh Sidhu, and fashion industry professional Smruti Sriram also received OBEs for their public service contributions.

    The 2025 list of Members of the Order of the British Empire (MBEs) and Medalists of the Order of the British Empire (BEMs) also includes a cross-section of British Indians including MBEs for tech expert Dalim Kumar Basu, nursing chief Marimouttou Coumarassamy, rheumatologist Professor Bhaskar Dasgupta, and pediatric hematologist Professor Ajay Jaikishore Vora.

    The BEM recipients include community workers Sanjib Bhattacharjee and Jagrupe Binnig, postal worker Hemandra Hindocha, and charity worker Jaswinder Kumar.

    Musician Balbir Singh Khanpur Bhujhangy also received a BEM for services to Bhangra music and Punjabi culture in the West Midlands region of England.

    Companion of Honor, of which there are only 65 recipients at any time, goes to author and screenwriter Sir Kazuo Ishiguro – the Japanese-British Nobel Prize winner for services to literature.

    Meanwhile, well-known English actor, broadcaster, comedian, director, narrator and writer Stephen Fry receives a Knighthood for his work on mental health awareness.

    The UK government said it is committed to ensuring that honors are awarded to outstanding people from across the whole of the UK and the system reflects the best of society.

    Cabinet Office Minister Pat McFadden said: “This year’s New Year Honors List celebrates the unsung heroes who contribute selflessly to their communities across the UK. I send them all my congratulations for their achievements.”

    “Our honors system uniquely recognizes the generous contributions of individuals across our nation. If you know someone in your community who has done something extraordinary, nominate them for an honor so the nation can recognize their achievements.”

    According to the Cabinet Office, in this edition of New Year Honors 54 per cent of the recipients have undertaken outstanding work in their communities, either in a voluntary or paid capacity, and 12 per cent of the successful candidates belong to an ethnic minority background.

  • Indian-origin professional nominated for the House of Lords peerage by UK PM Keir Starmer

    Indian-origin professional nominated for the House of Lords peerage by UK PM Keir Starmer

    LONDON (TIP) : A London-based professional who chairs the Labor Party’s diaspora group, Labor Indians, was on Friday, December 20 nominated by British Prime Minister Keir Starmer as one of his 30 picks for new political peerages in the House of Lords, to be approved by King Charles III.
    Krish Raval, awarded an OBE in 2018 by Queen Elizabeth II for Services to Leadership Education and Inter-Faith Cohesion, is the Founder-Director of Faith in Leadership – a University of Oxford-based organization working towards fostering inter-faith relations.
    He is now expected to join the Labor benches in the Upper House of the UK Parliament as a life peer, along with Starmer’s former chief of staff Sue Gray and former Labor shadow minister of Sri Lankan heritage Thangam Debbonnaire. “The King has been graciously pleased to signify his intention of conferring peerages of the United Kingdom for Life,” reads the Downing Street statement announcing the nominations this week.
    An independent House of Lords Appointments Commission (HOLAC) vets these nominations before the Prime Minister can formally recommend them to the King.
    This is followed by legal documents, or the writ of summons, issued by Parliament and a Letters Patent issued by the monarch to create a life peerage for the new members to be able to take their seat in the House of Lords and vote.
    The Labor Party has nominated 30 peers in what is seen as an attempt to balance the numbers in the Lords, where the Tories have the greatest number of peers.
    Once the new nominations are approved, which include Opposition Conservative Party Leader Kemi Badenoch’s six picks and Liberal Democrats’ two, the governing Labor Party is expected to have 217 peers, Tories 279 and Lib Dems 80. Over 180 crossbench peers are also part of the Lords as unaffiliated with any party, which means no party has an outright majority in the Upper Chamber of Parliament.
    While Badenoch has nominated former deputy prime minister Therese Coffey among her choices, the Lib Dems have British Pakistani councilor Shaffaq Mohammed on their list. According to reports, former prime minister Rishi Sunak’s nominations for the House of Lords are expected later.

  • King Charles III’s annual Christmas message from Buckingham Palace includes sustainable touches

    London (TIP): King Charles III will be giving his second Christmas message from Buckingham Palace in front of a live tree decorated with sustainable ornaments. The message, to be broadcast at 3 pm on December 25, will be the king’s second holiday address since he ascended the throne, but the first since his coronation in May. The natural decorations adorning the tree were made from wood, dried oranges, brown glass, pine cones, and paper. The tree will later be replanted, the palace says.
    Charles has promoted environmental causes, such as protecting wildlife and combating climate change long before it became popular, throughout much of his life. He spoke at the beginning of the month at the UN’s COP28 climate summit in Dubai. Last year, in his first Christmas message as monarch, Charles evoked memories of his late mother, Queen Elizabeth II, and paid tribute to the ‘selfless dedication’ of Britain’s public service workers.
    Many of those workers spent much of the past year in a fight with the government over pay, creating disruptions in transportation, education and adding to already long wait times at hospitals as doctors, nurses, and ambulance workers walked off the job — some for several days at a time — throughout the year. (AP)