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. We have newly pledged to take the event each year to different UK music venues, to meet and welcome more audiences, and proudly presented this year's event on Tuesday 5 March 2024 at Manchester's Royal Northern College of Music. For all the news from the occasion click here.

The journey to the next RPS Awards begins this Summer. Annually, from late July to late September, 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. To find out how to nominate when the time comes, please visit the Nominate page of our Awards website.

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, a shortlist of exceptional entrants and eventual winners is decided by expert panels, newly drawn each year from across the music profession. 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.

Shortlists in the nominated categories ware then announced in January, 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.