Inspiration Award
Each year, we invite the public to vote for the RPS Inspiration Award, presented for remarkable achievements of non-professional musical groups nationwide.
For years, the Royal Philharmonic Society Awards have celebrated the finest classical music-making across the UK. We recently introduced the Inspiration Award – kindly supported in 2023 by our friends at Warner Classics – for a non-professional ensemble or individuals who work with such groups, in recognition of the remarkable constellation of such music-makers, often overlooked in awards such as these.
Unlike the other RPS Awards whose winners are chosen by expert independent panels, the winner of this RPS Award is chosen by the public. In 2023, a shortlist of five exceptional entities was selected by a panel who themselves work with non-professional groups and, from these, the public was invited to vote for whom they feel should receive the award. A remarkable 4,000 votes were cast, and the 2023 winner was announced at the RPS Awards on 1 March as Torbay Symphony Orchestra.
Congratulations to them, and to all the shortlisted nominees who deserve recognition. Click on each of the other shortlistees below for a flavour of what makes them particularly special:
Bradford Festival Choral Society
We look forward to celebrating more such inspiration groups and individuals at the 2024 RPS Awards.
The RPS is particularly thankful to Making Music – the UK’s principal organisation supporting leisure-time music-making – for their help and insights in planning this award.
Last year’s winner of the RPS Inspiration Award was Hilary Campbell and Bristol Choral Society.
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