Violinist and conductor Christopher Latham will be awarded the prestigious French medal, the Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, by the French Ambassador on November 11. Latham, who is Artist-in-Residence at the Australian War Memorial, is being awarded in recognition of his project The Flowers of War, of which he is Artistic Director.

The Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres recognises significant contributions to the arts or literature. Previous recipients have included Rudolf Nureyev, George Clooney, Kylie Minogue, Philip Glass, Robyn Archer, and Leo Schofield. Recent Australian recipients have included organist Joseph Nolan and flautist Jane Rutter.

^{Christopher Latham}

The Flowers of War comprises ten concerts of recently discovered music, diaries, poetry and art, performed across the four years marking the centenary of World War I at locations in Canberra, Sydney, Melbourne and France, including a tour of villages of the Somme. Limelight reviewer Vincent Plush wrote of the concert Monet: The Flowers of War in September: “This was one of those rare events that, for its profound sincerity and understated simplicity, will live in the memory long after...