Arts world richly rewarded

Paul Scofield [L]: Mid-rehearsal for Radio 3's Billy Budd

Distinguished actor Paul Scofield CBE and esteemed composer Sir Harrison Birtwistle head off this year's honours for the arts.

Oscar, Tony and Emmy winner Scofield, 78, becomes a Companion of Honour. He has been described as one of the greatest actors of his generation, and has been a leading member of the Royal Shakespeare Company.

He originated the role of Antonio Salieri in the play Amadeus, and also has an extensive film career, including playing the ferocious judge Danforth in the 1996 version of Arthur Miller's The Crucible.

Sir Harrison, also to be made a Companion of Honour, is one of the leading European figures in contemporary music, whose works include saxophone concerto, Panic, and lyric tragedy The Mask of Orpheus.

Patrick Stewart: Theatre and Star Trek star

He currently holds several prestigious musical positions, including director of composition at London's Royal College of Music.

Actor Tom Courtenay is to be made a knight for his services to drama.

He has starred in many of the most influential films of the past 30 years, including Dr Zhivago and Billy Liar, and has twice won Bafta awards for best actor.

Honours for the acting world also go Patrick Stewart - best-known for playing Captain Jean Luc Picard in Star Trek - who is to be made an OBE.

He is also a distinguished stage actor, and joined the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1966, to begin 27-year association.

Zoe Wannamaker: Versatile Shakespearian actress

Playwright Peter Shaffer, the Oscar-winning author of Amadeus, the portrait of Mozart, is to be made a knight.

And theatre impresario and Everton football club owner Bill Kenwright is to be made a CBE.

Kenwright has been described as the West End's richest and most powerful figures, and has produced scores of plays and musicals, including Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat and A Streetcar Named Desire.

Yet another honorary CBE goes to Fiona Shaw, an Irish citizen, whose vivid interpretations of classical stage roles - including Electra - have given her worldwide acclaim.

Veteran actor Joss Ackland, 71, star of films including Shadowlands, about the life of author CS Lewis, is also receiving the same honour.

Tom Courtenay: Services to drama

And fellow thespian Charlotte Rampling - memorably associated with Georgy Girl and The Cherry Orchard - gets an OBE for her services to acting and UK-French cultural relations, after moving there 25 years ago.

Another actress, Zoe Wanamaker, a US citizen with innumerable starring roles with the Royal Shakespeare Company and in the West End, is to made a CBE.

Wanamaker is also known for starring in BBC sitcom My Family and is to appear in the upcoming Harry Potter film.

From the dance world, flamboyant choreographer Matthew Bourne, whose "male" Swan Lake won 27 international awards, is to be made an OBE.

And Richard Alston - regarded as the father of British modern dance - is to be made a CBE.

Joss Ackland: Veteran actor rewarded

Novelist and screenwriter Fay Weldon is to be honoured with a CBE - one of her best-remembered works is the controversial Life and Loves of a She Devil, which was also televised.

Children's author Alan Garner, whose work draws on the myths and legends, is to be made an MBE.

And from the world of music, Nicholas Kenyon, former Radio 3 boss who became head of the Proms, is to be made an MBE. Wilhelmina Barns-Graham, whose modern artwork has been exhibited at the Tate Gallery, St Ives, is being made an OBE.

Charlotte Rampling: Recently played Miss Havisham on TV

Broadcasting honours go to Jenny Abramsky, director of BBC Radio and Music and to Michael John Bunce, former executive director of the Royal Television Society, and former controller of BBC information services.

Other awards go to Dhruva Mistry, an Indian citizen, for services to sculpture and the arts and Mitsuko Uchida, a Japanese citizen, for services to music.

And painter David Remfry is to be honoured for services to British art in the US. One of his famous works includes a portrait of the late Sir John Gielgud.