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Biennial Dinner 2012

Every two years we hold a special black tie dinner for Old Edwardians at King Edward's. The 2012 Biennial Dinner took place on Saturday, 6 October 2012.

The School opened at 5pm for OEs to look around and reminisce. At 5.45pm the School Swing Band performed in the auditorium of the new Ruddock Performing Arts Centre, which was followed by a drinks reception. All then moved over to Big School for dinner at 7.30pm. Speeches were given by the Chief Master, John Claughton, our guest speaker, Lord Hall of Birkenhead (1965), Chief Executive of the Royal Opera House (see below), and School Captain, Ed Burns. 

This was yet another extremely successful OE event, evident via the many photos taken from the evening.

Guest Speaker - Lord Hall of Birkenhead, Chief Executive of the Royal Opera House (1965)

Lord Hall

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tony Hall took up his position as Chief Executive of the Royal Opera House in April 2001. He is widely credited with bringing financial stability to Britain's largest and most complex arts institution, building the organisation into a global centre of excellence for opera and ballet, and a beacon of creativity and best practice within the arts sector.

Tony Hall set up ROH2, a department devoted to supporting new artists and developing new audiences. He is passionate about the importance of education and skills within the cultural industries. He was the founder Chair of the Creative and Cultural & Skills Council; Chairman of the Music and Dance Scheme and also conducted a review, for the Government, of dance in secondary education in 2006/07. At the Royal Opera House, more than £2 million per annum is now invested in education projects.

In July 2009, he was asked by the Government and Mayor of London to set up and chair a board to direct the Cultural Olympiad and also joined the Board of the London Organising Committee for the Olympic Games. He is Deputy Chairman of Channel 4 Television and sits on the board of The British Council and the Paul Hamlyn Foundation.

Until 2001, Tony Hall was Chief Executive BBC News and launched Radio 5 Live, Britain's first 24-hour News and Sports Radio channel, BBC News 24, BBC News Online and BBC Parliament. He built BBC news gathering network to be a world beater. Tony is the author of King Coal (1981) - a history of the Miners Union, and Nuclear Power (1984).

He is an honorary Doctor of Literature at the University of London and an Honorary Fellow of Keble College Oxford. He was appointed a CBE in 2005 and, in 2010, was created a life peer with the title Baron Hall of Birkenhead. He sits on the Crossbenches in The House of Lords.