Royal Albert Hall Assembles Who’s Who of UK Music Biz For 150th Anniversary In 2021

Gideon Gottfried – Looking forward to a year of celebrations at the Royal Albert Hall in 2021
From left: Craig Hassall, chief executive, Lucy Noble, artistic and commercial director, and Neil Warnock

An impressive committee of promoters, agents, managers and label execs is going to curate an entire year of celebration, when London’s iconic Royal Albert Hall turns 150 years old in 2021 – or rather “150 years young,” as the building’s artistic and commercial director Lucy Noble put it.

The anniversary committee is chaired by UTA’s Neil Warnock, who spoke in front of a crowd of UK live industry representatives and other long-time partners of the Hall that gathered at the venue, Nov. 19, to officially kick off the preparations for the big anniversary.

“You are here as ambassadors to lend your vision, your entrepreneurial talents, and the power of yours, together with ours, to create the most spectacular events during the whole of the 150th in 2021. You people are special, you’re the ones that will eventually create the magic, and make history,” he said.

Warnock shares a long history with the Royal Albert Hall. He told Pollstar after his speech that his first show at the venue must have been Deep Purple and The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in 1969, Sept. 24 to be exact. The Concerto for Group and Orchestra was conducted by Malcolm Arnold and subsequently released on vinyl.

David Iliff. License: CC-BY-SA 3.0 – Royal Albert Hall
Located right next to Hyde Park

Warnock is also the man responsible for bringing together the who’s who of the UK live business to join the Hall’s birthday committee. The list includes  promoters like Steve Homer and Toby Leighton-Pope, who run AEG Presents in the UK, DHP Family founder George Akins, Harvey Goldsmith (Harvey Goldsmith Entertainments), Kilimanjaro Live CEO Stuart Galbraith, Harry Magee and Richard Griffiths of Modest Management, SJM Concerts’ Simon Moran and more.

Agents joining the party include Emma Banks and Mike Greek of CAA, Alex Hardee and Geoff Meall of Coda, Barry and Lucy Dickins of ITB, WME’s David Levy, Primary Talent’s Peter Elliott, and X-Ray Tourings Ian Huffam.

Rolling Stones manager Joyce Smith, Phil Collins manager Tony Smith, Peter Rudge of Vector Management, Ian McAndrew of Wildlife Management, as well as Harry Magee and Richard Griffiths of Modest Management.

Labels represented on the committee include Decca, Warner Bros and BMG.

The Royal Albert Hall is as much known for its charitable and educational work as it is for hosting the world’s greatest rock stars, which is also reflected on the committee in the form of the David Brownlow Charitable Foundation, Julia Roberts of the National Federation of Women’s Institute, Adrian and Myrna Whiteson of the Teenage Cancer Trust and others.

All of the professionals mentioned above, and more to be announced going forward, are going to be involved in shaping the Hall’s program in 2021.

The venue’s chief executive Craig Hassall and artistic and commercial director Lucy Noble decided to launch the committee more than two years ahead of time, seeing that the venue’s 2021 calendar is still largely empty.

It’s the reason Noble wasn’t able to reveal too much about the actual program, apart from Royal Albert Hall’s annual regulars such as Cirque du Soleil or the BBC Proms. She did, however, promise “big, iconic events,” which wasn’t hard to imagine seeing the crowd gathered for the launch.

Noble envisioned unique collaborations between rock artists and London’s Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, relived memories by inviting iconic acts back on stage, as well as artists who had an anniversary to celebrate themselves.

She emphasized that the charities and educational programs of the Hall would play an important part in the celebrations as well. “We want to leave a legacy like none other before. We want it to be absolutely amazing and for the world’s eyes to be upon us in that year,” she concluded.

The Royal Albert Hall opened its doors in 1871, with a programme of 36 events in the first year. Today it hosts over 400 auditorium shows a year, and hundreds more in other spaces around the building.

Gideon Gottfried – Neil Warnock
The global head of touring at UTA chairs the Royal Albert Hall’s 150th celebrations committee.

Warnock said, it was “a true honor to chair the 150th Anniversary Committee. The Royal Albert Hall is much more than just a beautiful Victorian venue, it’s a place of stories and memories – where people have been singing, dancing, laughing and crying together since 1871.”

The agent, who has worked with The Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd, Johnny Cash and Michael Jackson, added: “The ambassadors represent the best talent in the music industry and are the perfect team to support the Hall in bringing to life a program that will do down in history.”

To learn more about the Royal Albert Hall, head to Pollstar‘s interview with Lucy Noble.