Tony Hall, Baron Hall of Birkenhead
Anthony William Hall, Baron Hall of Birkenhead, CBE (born 3 March 1951 in Birkenhead, Wirral), usually known as Tony Hall, has been chief executive of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden since 2001.[1] He became a crossbench member of the House of Lords on 22 March 2010.
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[edit] Early life
He was educated at Birkenhead School and Keble College, Oxford,[2] where he studied PPE.
[edit] BBC career
Hall joined the BBC as a trainee after graduating.[3] Among his career achievements are the launch of BBC Parliament, Radio 5 Live and the editing of the 9 O'Clock News at the early age of 34. He was previously director of News and Current Affairs Television at the BBC (1990–1993) and, combining TV and radio, became director of News for the BBC in 1993. In 1999 he was an unsuccessful candidate for the position of Director General of the BBC.
[edit] Royal Opera House career
Tony Hall became Chief Executive of the Royal Opera House in April 2001. He set up ROH2, a department devoted to supporting new artists and developing new audiences. Since then, he set up new initiatives to widen access to the Opera House - including big screen relays to locations across the UK, Paul Hamlyn matinees, and other low-price ticket schemes.
In 2007, he oversaw the ROH's purchase of Opus Arte, a ballet and opera DVD/Blu-ray production and distribution company.[4] As a Royal Opera House subsidiary, Opus Arte has relaunched its website as an online classical music retailer, selling both digital and physical products from across all the major record labels.
His salary increased from £165,000 to £205,000 between 2010 and 2011, making him the highest paid Chief Executive of any charity in the UK.[5]
[edit] External posts
In April 2004 Hall was appointed the inaugural Chair of the industry-led sector skills council, Creative & Cultural Skills.[6] The sector skills council has introduced the first formal creative apprenticeships; has won government approval to build a state-of-the-art National Skills Academy for backstage skills[7] located with the Royal Opera House production park in High House Purfleet in Thurrock, Thames Gateway; and recently launched a web 2.0 careers portal called Creative Choices.[8]
He also chairs the Music and Dance Scheme Advisory Board, and led a Dance Review for the DFES resulting in an additional £5 million awarded for dance education. He is a member of the Management Committee of the Clore Leadership Programme, and a non-executive Director of Channel 4 Television. He is also on the Culture and Creative Advisory Forum panel for the DCMS and at present he is Chair of the Theatre Royal, Stratford East.
He has been an Honorary Visiting Fellow of Journalism at City University, a member of the Regeneration Through Heritage Steering Group, a board member for Race for Opportunity, a board member for Learndirect, and was a member of the Council for Brunel University. Until May 2000 he was Chair of the Royal Television Society. In April 2007, in the wake of the 2007 Iranian seizure of Royal Navy personnel, he was asked to inquire into the MOD's media strategy.
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.[9]
[edit] Honours and peerage
He was appointed a CBE in 2005.
On 19 March 2010, Hall was created a life peer with the title Baron Hall of Birkenhead, of Birkenhead in the County of Cheshire,[10] and on 22 March 2010, he was introduced in the House of Lords,[11] where he sits on the Crossbenches.
[edit] Bibliography
He wrote a book, King Coal, about miners in Britain (1981) and another, Nuclear Power, in 1987.
[edit] Personal life
Hall is married to Mrs Cynthia Hall, former headmistress of The School of St Helen and St Katharine now head of The Abbey, both girls day and boarding schools respectively. Hall has two children, William and Eleanor.
[edit] References
- ^ http://www.roh.org.uk/about/whoswho.aspx
- ^ Davies, Caitlin (7 June 2007). "My Way: Tony Hall, CBE, chief executive of the Royal Opera House". The Independent (London). http://www.independent.co.uk/student/career-planning/getting-job/my-way-tony-hall-cbe-chief-executive-of-the-royal-opera-house-451996.html. Retrieved 25 May 2010.
- ^ http://www.britishcouncil.org/goingglobal-gg3-speakers-tony-hall.htm
- ^ http://www.thestage.co.uk/news/newsstory.php/17013/royal-opera-house-buys-dvd-company
- ^ Higgins, Charlotte (30 November 2009). "Tony Hall – the arts' Mister Fix-it". The Guardian (London). http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2009/nov/30/tony-hall-royal-opera-house.
- ^ Creative & Cultural Skills. Accessed 8 February 2010
- ^ National Skills Academy. Accessed 8 February 2010
- ^ Creative Choices. Accessed 8 February 2010
- ^ House of Lords Appointments Commission (5 February 2010). "New non-party-political peers". http://lordsappointments.independent.gov.uk/news/100205-peers.aspx. Retrieved 6 February 2010.
- ^ London Gazette: no. 59371. p. 5137. 24 March 2010.
- ^ Lords Hansard text for 22 March 2010, retrieved on 24 March 2010
- Tash Shifrin, Profile: Tony Hall, Royal Opera House, The Guardian, 24 September 2003
- BBC News Tony Hall, May 14, 1999
Cynthia Hall is Headmistress of Wycombe Abbey.
