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“The Two Popes” actor Jonathan Pryce, “The Great British Bake Off” judge Prue Leith and “Strictly Come Dancing” judge Arlene Phillips are among those in the arts named to Britain’s Queen’s Birthday honors list.

Pryce, an Oscar and BAFTA nominee for “The Two Popes” (2019) and Cannes best actor winner for “Carrington” (1995), has been knighted for services to drama and charity. He was previously a Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (Cbe). Pryce played the “High Sparrow” in HBO’s “Game of Thrones” and will next portray Prince Philip in the upcoming two seasons of Netflix’s “The Crown.”

Leith, who is also a restaurateur, was named a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire for services to food, broadcasting and charity.

Phillips has choreographed West End and Broadway productions including “Flashdance,” “Grease” and “We Will Rock You,” and was also a judge...

Bear Grylls is to present a special edition of BBC One's Songs of Praise, it has been confirmed.

The 39-year-old adventurer and committed Christian will host the episode in celebration of the first anniversary of the creation of the Wales Coast Path.

Commenting on hosting the episode, Grylls said: "My Christian faith plays a core part in my life and I am honoured to be presenting Songs of Praise and to be joined by such interesting and talented guests.

"The programme is a television institution which is viewed with great affection by millions including me and my family. This programme is a chance to celebrate the splendour of the stunning Welsh Coastal Path with someone who knows it very well.

"For me, faith is about being strengthened, about being able to climb the biggest mountains in the world with the Person who made them. I have steadily found a natural...

Increasingly shown in 3D, classic stage works including Madam Butterfly are winning new audiences

If there is a queue around the block leading into the local cinema this month, it might not be for the next in a chain of blockbuster action sequels. Should the cinema be a smaller, independent venture, people may be lining up to watch an opera or a ballet.

The growth of live and recorded opera and ballet performance for cinema audiences is providing a bankable boost for many cinemas. This spring, there is an added attraction: more productions will be screened in 3D, bringing audiences even closer to the theatrical experiences at a fraction of the cost of tickets.

Tomorrow, the Royal Opera House will release its new feature film, Madam Butterfly 3D, and the team behind the production argue it is not just a cheaper option for opera fans, but also a good way...

The Bradford boyhood of Frederick Delius had a profound impact on the music he wrote until the end of his life

The untold story of the Bradford youth of one of Britain's greatest composers is to be investigated on film for the first time. Frederick Delius is sometimes claimed as a German composer, due to his parentage, and sometimes as a cosmopolitan European who finished his life in France.

In fact, the composer of On Hearing the first Cuckoo in Spring and La Calinda, was born in Bradford and spent his early working life employed at his father's wool business.

BBC4 has commissioned the

award-winning film-maker John Bridcut to produce a 90-minute profile that will reclaim his status as a Yorkshire talent. Delius not only had a Yorkshire accent but loved cricket and played as a young man, Bridcut has discovered.

"There is no recording of his voice, but according to the writer Neville Cardus,...

His life was as romantic and colourful as his exquisite music, yet his works are rarely performed today. Delius deserves better, writes Julian Lloyd Webber

No other composer polarises opinion like Delius. You either love or loathe his music. And it is rare to find someone who has grown to like it. Although this coming year – the 150th anniversary of his birth – will bring opportunities to reassess his work, that central fact will never change.

I feel as if I have known Delius's music forever. My father was a devotee and I must have heard all of his most famous works (On Hearing the First Cuckoo in Spring, The Walk to the Paradise Garden, La Calinda, et al) well before I started playing his cello music. I always felt instinctively attuned to Delius's unique musical language, which seemed akin to watching a painting that is slowly changing in a constantly moving canvas of sound.

Unique works of art created by 100 celebrities will be auctioned by author Jeffrey Archer on the 15th September at the Drawn…to Darfur Celebrity Charity Art Auction in London to help the forgotten children of Darfur.

Lord Archer offered to help when he heard that nearly 100 celebrities – including His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI, Prince Charles, Prime Minister David Cameron, Melvyn Bragg, Martin Clunes, Rolf Harris, Anne Heche, Eamonn Holmes, Kelly Holmes, Ken Howard, Robert Lindsay, Julian Lloyd-Webber, Joanna Lumley, Ruth Rendell, Cliff Richard, Prunella Scales, Chris Tarrant and many more – have been drawing for Darfur as part of UK based charity Kids for Kids’ 10th Birthday celebrations.

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London, Feb 28 – Britain’s popular classical musicians, including Julian Lloyd Webber, Aled Jones, Paul Potts and Faryl Smith, have assembled to record a charity song for the Disasters Emergency Committee devoted to Haiti earthquake victims.

A total of 23 artists have sang the new track ‘The Prayer’, made popular by Andrea Bocelli and Celine Dion.

The number was recorded at Metropolis Studios, west London.

“It’s the first time that a number of classical artists have come together, and it’s for.