 | This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations .(September 2022) |
 | This biographical article is written like a résumé .(December 2023) |
David Zolkwer MVO (born in Manchester in April 1973) is a producer and director of international public events, theatre, ceremonies, celebrations, festivals and immersive corporate experiences. His work has been witnessed live by millions and on television by billions. [1] [2]
Zolkwer's early theatre career began when he worked as an 'apprentice' in theatres in Manchester, including The Royal Exchange and Oldham Coliseum. He also worked at the BBC on a madcap children's TV show called Cheggers Plays Pop. He moved to London to study at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama and then Middlesex University. Soon after graduation, he worked in fringe theatre in London at venues such as The Hen & Chickens and The Kings Head. Zolkwer then moved into the experiential marketing and public events domain, working for many leading experiential marketing agencies. For Jack Morton Worldwide, he was Executive Vice President & Head of Public Events, International for 15 years. Since 2018 he has worked as an independent practitioner.
David Zolkwer has played a leading role in major public events, ceremonies, celebrations, theatrical performances, festivals and brand experiences across the world for over two decades.
In 1997 he was both Project Director and Creative Director for the Hong Kong Handover Ceremony. [1] He played the same dual role working on the 'Money' and 'Self Portrait' Zones at the Millennium Dome in 2000. [1] [3]
In 2002 he was Project Director & Artistic Director for the ceremonies of the Manchester 2002 Commonwealth Games. He personally directed the Opening Ceremony, which was attended by Her Majesty the Queen in her Golden Jubilee year. (Manchester 2002 was the first Commonwealth Games for which Zolkwer led the teams delivering the Oepning and Closing Ceremonies. He has since become the only practiioitioner in the world to direct ceremonies for 4 Commonwealth Games). The success of the Manchester Commonwealth Games and the ceremonies were seen by many as a major statement of UK confidence and capability that paved the way for London's successful bid to host the 2012 Olympic Games. [4] [5] [6]
In 2004 Zolkwer was one of the lead Creative Directors and overall Project Director for the ceremonies of the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens. [7] [8] He was the only non-Greek member of the core creative team led by Dimitris Papaioanou.The Opening Ceremony in particular is still regarded as one of the most beautiful and technologically innovative ceremonies ever created. [9]
In 2005 Zolkwer directed the launch of the Melbourne 2006 Queen's Baton Relay from Buckingham Palace.
In 2006 he served as Executive Creative Director supporting the team producing the ceremonies of the Melbourne 2006 Commonwealth Games.
Also in 2006 he was the Artistic Director of 'Falklands 25', a commemorative event broadcast live from Horse Guards Parade, London and the Falkland Islands to mark the 25th anniversary of the end of the Falklands Conflict.
Over 2007/08 Zolkwer served as Creative Consultant and led a small team from Jack Morton Worldwide providing technical, production and operations consultancy to the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games for the 2008 Summer Games in Beijing and famed film director and Olympics Artistic Director Zhang Yimou who he also supported during the extended creative bid process for the Beijing Ceremonies. [10]
In 2008 Zolkwer was Project Director & Creative Director for the Team GB and Paralympic GB Team Homecoming – a celebratory event staged in Trafalgar Square, London, to celebrate the achievements of the British teams in Beijing.
In 2009 Zolkwer directed the launch of the Delhi 2010 Queen's Baton Relay from Buckingham Palace. Also in 2009, he was the Artistic Director for the Ceremonies of the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup in South Africa.
Zolkwer was the Artistic Director of the Opening Ceremony of the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa, described by the Guardian Newspaper as:
"An unusually limber, oddly unstilted and bafflingly entertaining introduction to South Africa 2010".
A month later he also directed the ceremony that closed the tournament – an event featuring a surprise guest appearance by Nelson Mandela.
In March 2010, Sport Business International named Zolkwer as one of the 20 most influential people working within specific sectors of sport.
In July 2010, Zolkwer was the Artistic Director of 'Remembering Fromelles', a ceremony held exactly 94 years after the disastrous First World War battle of Fromelles in Northern France in which thousands of Australian and British troops lost their lives. During the ceremony the last 250 British and Australian World War I troops recovered from recently discovered mass graves were reburied with full military honours. The event was attended by the Prince of Wales, the Duke of Kent and the Governor-General of Australia, Dame Quentin Bryce AC.
Zolkwer was the Creative Director for the celebration sites in London's Hyde Park and Trafalgar Square created for the Royal Wedding, The marriage of H.R.H Prince William of Wales and Miss Catherine Middleton. The event – themed around the idea that everyone was a guest at the Royal Wedding - welcomed the largest crowd ever assembled in Hyde Park.
From 2007 to 2015 Zolkwer was the Creative Director for the Mayor of London's annual New Year's Eve Celebrations - a lighting, projection and fireworks spectacular focused around the London Eye and the River Thames attended by a live audience numbering in excess of 350,000. The event was also broadcast live across the UK to audiences in excess of 12.5 million.
(Zolkwer's work on London's 2015 New Year's Eve spectacular saw the clock faces of Elizabeth Tower – home to Big Ben – lit blue to mark the involvement of UNICEF in the event. This was the first time in the history of the tower that the clock faces had appeared in any colour other than white).
In December 2012 Zolkwer returned to South Africa to join forces with local agency VWV to provide creative consultancy for the Opening & Closing Ceremonies of the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations.
In July 2012 it was announced that Zolkwer had been appointed as Head of Ceremonies & Artistic Director for the Ceremonies of the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games. He was also the Creative Director of the launch of the Glasgow 2014 Queen's Baton which was broadcast live from the Mall and Buckingham Palace in October 2013.
The Glasgow Commonwealth Games and their ceremonies were hailed as a huge success. The Opening Ceremony, attended by Her Majesty The Queen, featured performances by Karen Dunbar, John Barrowman, Amy Macdonald, Susan Boyle, Nicola Benedetti, Julie Fowlis, Pumeza Matshikiza, Billy Connolly, Sir Chris Hoy, Rod Stewart and James McAvoy, as well as a pre-recorded video messages from the crew of the International Space Station and Ewan McGregor, Nicole Scherzinger and Sachin Tendulkar.
One innovative highlight of the Opening Ceremony 'activated' the partnership between Glasgow 2014 and UNICEF. A live international appeal on the night saw the team raise over $11m for the UNICEF Children of the Commonwealth fund..
In interviews recorded after the Games, Zolkwer attributed much of the success of the Glasgow ceremonies to the warm collaborative partnership established with Dr Bridget McConnell, CEO of Glasgow Life, and David Grevemberg who was the CEO of Glasgow 2014, as well as the Glasgow City Council leadership and the executive leadership of the Commonwealth Games Federation.
Zolkwer served as Creative and Production Consultant to the Georgian Chamber of Culture for the Opening Ceremony of the Tbilisi 2015 European Youth Olympic Festival.
In December 2015 Zolkwer was appointed Project Director and Artistic Director of the Ceremonies of the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games - the fourth Commonwealth Games for which Zolkwer has delivered the ceremonies. His work on the Gold Coast Ceremonies saw him connect with, commission and curate over 40 local and national cultural and creative companies and organisations including respected 'national treasures' such as The Queensland Symphony Orchestra (Brisbane), Queensland Ballet (Brisbane), Bangarra Dance Theatre (Sydney), Dance North (Townsville) and the Yugambeh Museum. The following day the headline on the front page of the Gold Coast Bulletin declared "Now that's an opening! The Commonwealth Games opening ceremony at Carrara Stadium last night was as fair dinky Australian as it gets. In an opening welcome reminiscent of Crocodile Dundee, the celebration was a bottler, ridgy-dodge - a little ripper...as millions of people watching worldwide fell in love with Australia".
The Courier-Mail said, "The Gold Coast finally welcomed the world to its biggest ever party with a dazzling Commonwealth Games opening ceremony". [11] The New Daily said the opening ceremony had "wowed" the fans on the Gold Coast. [12] [13] The West Australian said that the "Spirits gone high" in the Gold Coast after the opening ceremony. [14] The SBS called the ceremony as "dazzling" [15] and the ABC said that the opening ceremony had "signalled a great start for the 2018 Commonwealth Games". [16]
Reaction was overwhelmingly positive. The BBC said the 2018 Commonwealth Games started with a "colourful" and "spectacular" opening ceremony. [17] The London Evening Standard said the Games began with a "spectacular opening ceremony paying tribute to region's Aboriginal history." [18] The Daily Telegraph reported "Gold Coast Commonwealth Games began with every symbol of Australiana". [19] [20]
The Firstpost said, "Opening ceremony of Commonwealth Games 2018 celebrates indigenous culture, beaches and diversity". [21] The Times of India commented, "What a spectacular welcome Gold Coast has given to the participating teams!". [22] The Hindu said "...the opening ceremony of the XXI Commonwealth Games on Wednesday night was painted with colour and gaiety....". They also commented "The pageant showcased the Australian tradition and culture in all its glory". The Courier Mail declared the Ceremony as a celebration of "the Gold Coast's coming of age".
(The launch of the Gold Coast 2018 Queen's Baton Relay from Buckingham Palace in 2017 was also the fourth such launch event for which Zolkwer had been responsible after Melbourne 2006, Delhi 2010 and Glasgow 2014).
In 2019 Zolkwer worked as a production and creative consultant to the 'Moment Makers' team at Expo 2020. He was also commissioned as Executive Producer and Creative Director for the opening ceremony of the Doha 2019 Arabian Gulf Cup and the inauguration of the new Education City Stadium during the FIFA Club World Cup.
In 2021 Zolkwer was the Project Director for COP26, The United Nations Climate Change Conference, in Glasgow UK – the largest event of its kind ever hosted by the UK Government.
He directed Her Majesty The Queen's Platinum Jubilee Pageant which was witnessed live by over 200,000 people lining the streets of London on 5 June 2022, and broadcast to hundreds of millions of television viewers around the world. The spectacular show concluded with an historic (last) appearance by the Queen, accompanied by Prince Charles and Prince William on the Balcony of Buckingham Palace.
Also in 2022, he was Project Director for Delivery, Noor Riyadh - the largest citywide light art festival in the world.
He ended the year working as Creative Consultant on the Mayor of London's New Year's Eve Celebrations. London Fireworks 2023
In December 2022 Zolkwer was appointed Project Director for the Coronation of His Majesty King Charles III, held in Westminster Abbey in June 2023.
Also in 2023, Zolkwer was a member of the Cultural Heritage Narrative Experiences Expert Panel for The Royal Commission for AlUla (RCU). He was also again Project Director for the 2023 Edition of the Noor Riyadh Festival of Light.
Zolkwer has worked on many major corporate brand events across the world and for clients across most sectors, including, in 2019, Emirates National Oil Company, [23] Expo 2020.
In 2006 Zolkwer led the team responsible for the creation of an event for 10,000 IBM employees in Bangalore, India. The event, attended by the president of India, was broadcast live by satellite to five other Indian cities.
Zolkwer also spearheaded the launch of telecommunications giant, Zain, first in the Middle-East in 2007 (simultaneous, satellite-linked events in Sudan, Bahrain, Kuwait and Jordan) and then, in 2008, across Africa (simultaneous, satellite-linked events in Burkina Faso, Chad, D.R.C., Gabon, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Niger, Nigeria, Republic of Congo, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia).
David Zolkwer attended the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. He then studied theatre and English at Middlesex University, where he earned a first class honours degree.
Zolkwer was awarded an honorary doctorate from London's Middlesex University "in recognition of his outstanding contribution to his profession and his community".
He was appointed Member of the Royal Victorian Order (MVO) in the 2023 New Year Honours for distinguished personal services to the late Queen Elizabeth II, King Charles III and the Platinum Jubilee Pageant. [24]
The Commonwealth Games is a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations, which consists mostly, but not exclusively, of territories of the former British Empire. The event was first held in 1930 as the British Empire Games and, with the exception of 1942 and 1946, has successively run every four years since. The event was called the British Empire Games from 1930 to 1950, the British Empire and Commonwealth Games from 1954 to 1966, and the British Commonwealth Games from 1970 to 1974. The event removed the word British from its title for the 1978 Games and has maintained its current name ever since.
The 2002 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XVII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Manchester 2002, were an international multi-sport event for the members of the Commonwealth held in Manchester, England, from 25 July to 4 August 2002. According to planning, this event was to be held in a country in the United Kingdom as part of the Golden Jubilee of Elizabeth II, head of the Commonwealth. England was the only bidder for the event and, in an internal process, Manchester was selected for the 2002 Games ahead of London. The Manchester bid used projects which were part of the failed bid for the 2000 Summer Olympics and Paralympics, which were awarded to Sydney, Australia. The 2002 Commonwealth Games was, prior to the 2012 Summer Olympics, the largest multi-sport event ever to be held in the UK, eclipsing the London 1948 Summer Olympics in terms of teams and athletes participating. The 2002 Commonwealth Games had the largest number of events of any Commonwealth Games in history, featuring 281 events across 17 sports.
The 2006 Commonwealth Games, officially the XVIII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Melbourne 2006, were an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth held in Melbourne, Australia between 15 and 26 March 2006. It was the fourth time Australia had hosted the Commonwealth Games. It was also the largest sporting event to be staged in Melbourne, eclipsing the 1956 Summer Olympics in terms of the number of teams competing, athletes competing, and events being held.
The 2010 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XIX Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Delhi 2010, were an international multi-sport event for the members of the Commonwealth that was held in Delhi, India, from 3 to 14 October 2010. A total of 4352 athletes from 71 Commonwealth nations and dependencies competed in 21 sports and 272 events, making it the largest Commonwealth Games to date. It was also the largest international multi-sport event to be staged in Delhi and India, eclipsing the Asian Games in 1951 and 1982. The opening and closing ceremonies were held at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, the main stadium of the event.
The 2014 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XX Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Glasgow 2014, were an international multi-sport event celebrated in the tradition of the Commonwealth Games as governed by the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF). It took place in Glasgow, Scotland, from 23 July to 3 August 2014.
The Queen's Baton Relay is a relay around the world held prior to the beginning of the Commonwealth Games. The Baton carries a message from the Head of the Commonwealth, currently King Charles III. The Relay traditionally begins at Buckingham Palace in London as a part of the city's Commonwealth Day festivities. The King entrusts the baton to the first relay runner. At the Opening Ceremony of the Games, the final relay runner hands the torch back to the King or his representative, who reads the message aloud to officially open the Games. The Queen's Baton Relay is similar to the Olympic Torch Relay. As a result of Queen Elizabeth II's death on 8 September 2022, the Baton Relay will be renamed as the Kings's Baton Relay in honour of her successor, King Charles III, for the 2026 Commonwealth Games.
Chong Voon Lim is a Malaysian-born Australian-based musical director, keyboardist, producer, and session musician. Lim attended St. Michael's Institution for secondary education. He relocated to Melbourne, Australia in 1977, where he attended Geelong College, and then completed a mechanical engineering course at the University of Melbourne from 1978 to 1981. Lim has toured with Jermaine Jackson and John Farnham, after Farnham's long-time collaborator David Hirschfelder left to concentrate on film scores. He has toured and been music director and producer for Olivia Newton-John since 1998 and is patron of the Olivia Newton-John Foundation.
The 2018 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XXI Commonwealth Games and also known as Gold Coast 2018, were an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth that was held on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia, between 4 and 15 April 2018. It was the fifth time Australia had hosted the Commonwealth Games and the first time a major multi-sport had an equal number of events for male and female athletes.
The opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics was held at the Beijing National Stadium, also known as the Bird's Nest. It began at 20:00 China Standard Time (UTC+08:00), on 8 August 2008, due to the significance of the number 8, which is considered to be auspicious and is furthermore associated with prosperity and confidence in Chinese culture. The artistic part of the ceremony comprised two parts titled "Brilliant Civilization" and "Glorious Era" respectively. The first part highlighted Chinese civilization and the second part exhibited modern China and its dream of harmony between the people of the world. The stadium was full to its 91,000 capacity according to organizers.
Keith Khan is an English artist, designer and performance artist. In 1996, together with Ali Zaidi, he co-founded the arts organisation Motiroti.
The 2022 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XXII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Birmingham 2022, were an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth of Nations that took place in Birmingham, England between 28 July and 8 August 2022. They were the 22nd edition of the Commonwealth Games. It was the third and seventh time England and the United Kingdom hosted the Commonwealth Games, respectively.
The opening ceremony for the 2014 Commonwealth Games was held at Celtic Park in Glasgow, Scotland, between 21:00 and 23:40 BST, on 23 July 2014.
Margaret Anwen Butten is a Welsh international Bowls competitor for Wales.
Australia competed at the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, Queensland between 4 and 15 April 2018. It was Australia's 21st appearance at the Commonwealth Games, having competed at every Games since their inception in 1930. Australia previously hosted the Games four times – 1938 Sydney, 1962 Perth, 1982 Brisbane and 2006 Melbourne.
The opening ceremony for the 2018 Commonwealth Games took place on the evening of Wednesday 4 April in the Carrara Stadium, Gold Coast. As mandated by the Commonwealth Games Charter, the proceedings of the ceremony combined the formal opening of the sporting event with an artistic performance to showcase the host nation's culture. The 2018 Games were formally opened by Charles, Prince of Wales. Jack Morton Worldwide was given the contract to produce the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2018 Commonwealth Games. The theme of the opening ceremony was Hello Earth and directed by David Zolkwer.
Donald McIntosh is a Scottish rifle shooter and coach from Elgin. He represented Scotland for the first time in 1989 at the Commonwealth Shooting Federation Championships in Wales. He has been capped 60 times, making him the seventh most capped Scottish shooter. He represented Scotland in the 2002 Manchester Commonwealth Games where he was unable to replicate his previous gold medal success in the Commonwealth Shooting Federation Championships. Donald began his international coaching career at the 2003 World University Shooting Championships and continues to coach his younger daughter Seonaid McIntosh and coached his older daughter Jennifer McIntosh until her retirement in 2018. He is the owner of Edinkillie Sports Services.
A number of notable controversies and concerns associated with the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, Australia emerged which were the subject of public debate and media commentary.
The 2018 Commonwealth Games Queen's Baton Relay was run from 13 March 2017 until 4 April 2018, prior to the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games. The baton bearer selection process for the Australian segment was announced on 18 October 2017.
Catherine Oliaku Ugwu is a British executive producer, artistic director, and consultant working in large-scale ceremonies and events, including for the Summer and Winter Olympics, the Summer Paralympics, the Asian, European, Islamic Solidarity, and Commonwealth Games, and the Millennium Dome.
The opening ceremony for the 2022 Commonwealth Games took place on the evening of Thursday 28 July in the Alexander Stadium, Birmingham. As mandated by the Commonwealth Games Charter, the proceedings of the ceremony combined the formal opening of the sporting event with an artistic performance to showcase the host nation's culture. The 2022 Games were formally opened by Charles, Prince of Wales. The centrepiece of the ceremony was an eight-meter-tall animatronic bull, created by the London-based special effects company Artem. The bull, nicknamed 'Ozzy' after Birmingham-born rockstar Ozzy Osbourne is now on permanent display inside Birmingham New Street train station.