Anna Lapwood - winner of the 2023 RPS Gamechanger Award (Photo: Mark Allan)

Introduction

Described by The Sunday Times as ‘the biggest night in UK classical music’, the Royal Philharmonic Society Awards are classical music’s annual good news story, shining much-needed light on inspirational individuals, groups and initiatives whose music has lifted hearts and minds across the nation.

We newly present the RPS Awards in a fresh and open format, with a vastly-reduced ticket price giving more music lovers and music makers than ever before the opportunity to get together and feel part of the festivities. Given the national story they tell, our most recent RPS Awards took place out of London for the first time in March 2024, drawing a capacity audience at Manchester’s Royal Northern College of Music. You can read all about the event and the brilliant winners and nominees here. We have newly pledged to take the event to different UK music venues, to meet and welcome more audiences, and are pleased to announce the next RPS Awards will be on Thursday 6 March 2025 at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire. Please save the date, tell friends, and do join us if you can. Tickets – from only £10 – will go on sale later in October, with priority booking for RPS Members.

Annually, we welcome nominations for the RPS Awards from anyone who is an RPS Member (which is open to anyone who loves classical music: find out how you can join us here) and from those who work in the classical music profession. Nominations were open this year from 23 July to 25 September and are now closed. Our thanks to everyone who took the time to nominate.

Nominations are annually welcomed for 11 of 13 categories: Chamber-Scale Composition, Large-Scale Composition, Conductor, Ensemble, Impact, Instrumentalist, Opera and Music Theatre, Series and Events, Singer, Storytelling, Young Artist. To find out more about each category and the criteria, please visit the Categories page of our Awards website.

Following nominations, we invite all those nominated to prepare a submission for review by expert panels, newly drawn each year from across the music profession. Panels choose a shortlist of exceptional entrants and winners for each category. There are two further awards: Gamechanger chosen by the Board and Council of the RPS, and Inspiration celebrating the nation’s non-professional music-makers. For this latter award, an expert panel defines a shortlist then we open it for public vote here on our website in December.

Shortlists in the nominated categories are then announced on 30 January 2025, in association with our longstanding Awards partner BBC Radio 3.

The RPS Awards is a night of celebration with special guests, inspirational stories, and live music, giving you the chance to meet unsung heroes of classical music from across the UK and to rub shoulders with the stars. Winners receive a trophy in the form of a silver lyre, designed by former RPS Council member Laurie Watt. Central to the story of Orpheus, the lyre is one of the earliest symbols of music's power to see us through difficult times: something we can all agree it has done in recent times.

All RPS Awards updates will be shared here on our website and on our social media @RoyalPhilSoc

If you have any queries about the RPS Awards, please do contact us.

A registered charity, the Royal Philharmonic Society has been at the heart of music for over 200 years, championing the vital role that music plays in all our lives. To find out more about everything we do, please visit our main website.

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