Cellist Julian Lloyd Webber Given Lifetime Achievement Award from London Cello Society

The award honors Lloyd Webber's contribution to musical life in the United Kingdom, from commissioning new works to his service to music education

The London Cello Society has given its prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award to the British cellist Julian Lloyd Webber. The award was presented by the British violinist Philip Dukes — a close friend of Lloyd Webber's — at the society's opening concert for the season.

The award honors Lloyd Webber's contribution to musical life in the United Kingdom across multiple different areas: as a performer, for his extensive service to music education, and for his championing and commissioning of the work of British composers.

As a soloist, Lloyd Webber has appeared with the Berliner Philharmoniker, Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, and the London Symphony Orchestra, among many others. In addition, he has commissioned or been the dedicatee for more than fifty new works for cello, from composers as varied as Malcolm Arnold, Joaquín Rodrigo, Andrew Lloyd Webber, James MacMillan, Philip Glass, and Eric Whitacre.

In the education sphere, Lloyd Webber founded the UK Government's In Harmony program and has also served as the Chair of Sistema England. Together, the two programs have reached more than 60,000 schoolchildren from some of Britain's most underserved areas.

Past recipients of the award include the luthier Charles Beare, the cellists Steven Doane and Ralph Kirshbaum, and Stradivari Trust founder Nigel Brown.