Composer and campaigners recognised with Honorary Fellowships

A leading composer and two prominent campaigners are to be honoured as part of this summer’s graduation celebrations at Goldsmiths, University of London.

Errollyn Wallen MBE, Nabil Shaban and Anthony Barnett are to receive Honorary Fellowships alongside graduating students at the ceremonies taking place in central London on 18 and 19 July 2019.

More than 1,300 students will be supported by over 3,000 friends and family across five ceremonies which are taking place at the QEII Centre in Westminster. This year’s ceremonies have been moved from campus due to scheduled works in the Great Hall.

Professor Elisabeth Hill, Acting Warden, said: “Graduation is a special time at Goldsmiths where our community joins together to celebrate the achievements of our students. It is also a moment for us to recognise the accomplishments of distinguished individuals and we are delighted to welcome Errollyn, Nabil and Anthony as Honorary Fellows.”

Errollyn Wallen MBE


Goldsmiths alumna Errollyn is
 an internationally renowned composer and performer.
 Her prolific output includes
 17 operas and awards include the Ivor Novello Award for Classical Music and British Composer Award.

Errollyn 
was awarded the MBE in 2007, and in 2009 her albums were launched into space as part of NASA’s STS-115 mission.

She composed two large-scale works for the opening ceremony of
 the London 2012 Paralympic Games. Errollyn founded her own Orchestra X whose latest album, Photography, was named as one of the best classical albums of 2016 by National Public Radio in the USA. Her latest orchestral work is a BBC Proms commission for the BBC National Orchestra of Wales.

Nabil Shaban

Actor and activist Nabil Shaban has dedicated his life to
 creating pioneering works and campaigning for disability rights. Born in Amman, Jordan, Nabil arrived in the UK aged three for treatment for brittle bone disease, and subsequently spent six years in hospital and seven in a children’s home.

In 1980 Nabil co-founded Graeae, a pioneering theatre company specialising
in disability arts. From Doctor Who to Hamlet, Nabil’s career spans an impressive list of
film, theatre and television credits.

In 2005 he published ‘Dreams My Father Sold Me’,
 an anthology of 30 years of
 his artwork and poetry. Nabil 
is recognised for his political activism and campaigning,
 and has written and presented documentaries challenging perceptions of disabled people. 

Anthony Barnett

Writer, campaigner and organiser, Anthony Barnett is the co-founder of the global website openDemocracy. He was the site’s Editor-in-Chief until 2007, and continues to contribute
as a journalist.

Anthony is the author or co-author of nine books, and countless articles on topics ranging from Cambodia to Henry Moore, though he is best known for his writing on problems faced by the British state.

His long-standing call for Britain to become a European democracy or risk our basic liberties has, he argues in his latest book, been vindicated
 by the Brexit crisis. He was the first director of Charter 88, the influential campaign for human rights and constitutional reform.