R D M R — Shortlists announced as classical music’s biggest awards head to Manchester

Shortlists announced as classical music’s biggest awards head to Manchester

Shortlists are announced today for the Royal Philharmonic Society (RPS) Awards, celebrating classical music and musicians nationwide.

Billed by The Sunday Times as the ‘biggest night in UK classical music’, the RPS Awards shine a light on brilliant musical individuals, groups and initiatives inspiring communities across the UK. From star soloists, to heroic amateur musicians, the RPS Awards tell a vibrant, vital and uplifting story about classical music’s resonance, impact and reach.

For the very first time, the RPS Awards will be presented out of London, taking place in Manchester: a city that resounds with musical creativity and is home to two of last year’s RPS Award-winners, Manchester Collective and Manchester Camerata. The RPS Awards will take place at the Royal Northern College of Music (RNCM) on Tuesday 5 March – with all tickets priced only £10 to £25 so music-lovers can come and be part of the experience.

Nominees collectively illustrate the strength and vibrancy of music-making nationwide, with Scottish nominees including Drake Music Scotland, Glasgow Madrigirls, tenor Nicky Spence and accordion player Ryan Corbett; Manchester-based nominations for Manchester Classical, Olympias Music Foundation and LGBTQ+ choir The Sunday Boys, plus nominations for Sheffield Philharmonic Chorus, Aldeburgh Festival, Derbyshire’s Derwent Brass, and Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival.

Among the big names nominated this year are tenor Nicky Spence, soprano Masabane Cecilia Rangwanasha, pianist Pavel Kolesnikov, trumpeter Aaron Azunda Akugbo, and conductor François-Xavier Roth, all of whom made a big impression wowing the crowds at 2023’s BBC Proms.

Composer Kaija Saariaho, an icon of contemporary music who sadly died in 2023, is recognised in two categories for her opera Innocence: for Large-Scale Composition, and in the Opera and Music Theatre category for its UK premiere at The Royal Opera.

Of the 19 individual performers and composers shortlisted, 42% represent the global majority, including cellist Ayanna Witter-Johnson, Music Director of the Birmingham Opera Company Alpesh Chauhan, and sitar player Jasdeep Singh Degun. A number of the nominated organisations also celebrate diversity including Kaleidoscope Chamber Collective and Olympias Music Foundation.

Disabled artists are celebrated, with nominations for composer Ben Lunn’s History needs…, written for left-handed pianist Nicholas McCarthy, and Call of the Mountains by Drake Music Scotland, dedicated to enabling disabled musicians to fulfil their potential.

The UK’s constellation of amateur groups is also recognised with the Inspiration Award, the winner of which is decided by public vote from a shortlist comprising Derwent Brass, Glasgow Madrigirls, Sheffield Philharmonic Chorus and The Sunday Boys. Visit the RPS website by 10am on Friday 2 February to discover more about the nominees and cast your vote.

Much in the news, the BBC Singers are nominated for the Ensemble Award, while the BBC receives further nods in the Storytelling category for BBC Radio 3’s Composer of the Week and BBC Radio 4’s Eastern Classical.

The event, which will feature performances from some of this year’s nominees, is hosted by BBC Radio 3 presenters Elizabeth Alker and Linton Stephens with trophies presented by RPS Chairman John Gilhooly.

It will be filmed to watch on the RPS website from 12 March, and BBC Radio 3 will present a special broadcast featuring music of the winners and nominees at 7.30pm on Wednesday 6 March.

The RPS Awards can only happen thanks to a range of dedicated supporters. The RPS is especially grateful to this year’s Principal Supporters – BBC Radio 3, ABRSM, Lark Music, PRS for Music, Yamaha, and BBC Music Magazine – and those who support individual awards as detailed below.

RPS Chief Executive James Murphy says: ‘Given the truly national story they represent, we’re so pleased to be taking the Royal Philharmonic Society Awards out of the capital for the very first time. We’ll be venturing elsewhere in years to come, and back to London of course, but this year Manchester is the ideal destination. With big wins last year for Manchester Collective and Manchester Camerata, and nominations this year for local heroes The Sunday Boys, Manchester Classical, and Olympias Music Foundation, classical music pulses through the city’s veins. We’ve received such a wonderful welcome from our hosts at the Royal Northern College of Music, and – with tickets from just £10 - we invite Greater Manchester’s music-lovers to come and join in the festivities.’