“It’s good to hear that the RPS is continuing to stir things up, and growing old disgracefully: please keep commissioning composers, keep supporting musicians, keep talking about music and keep championing excellence. We need organisations like the RPS to remind us that young artists take time to develop, that composers require opportunities for their voices to be heard and that serious music and musicians are vital, and should be valued.
Great artists never stop learning, and great musicians never stop listening. The RPS shares these qualities and I wish it well for 2013 and well beyond!”
- Alfred Brendel, RPS Gold Medallist
Bicentenary celebrations throughout 2013 will put the spotlight on the Society’s unparalleled contribution to music, past, present and future.
2013 brings together new commissions from leading and emerging composers, and reaches out to audiences through live performances, debates, exhibitions, broadcasts and online with two new websites.
The RPS will extend its programme for young musicians by targeting practical support where it is need most: from assistance with buying suitable instruments to mentoring and opportunities for further study.
Digitisation of the extraordinary RPS Archive at the British Library will provide a unique insight into the RPS's legacy of two centuries of concert giving - and going - while a new iPad app will focus in depth on the Society’s most famous commission, Beethoven’s 9th Symphony.