Click here to discover more about the new RPS Thea Musgrave Fund which we have created with the kind support and creativity of composer Thea Musgrave and her husband, the conductor Peter Mark.

Throughout Thea’s career, she has treasured having dedicated time to shape ideas with extraordinary musicians. This year, we plan to offer several grants to support established composers writing a new work for an established solo performer, duo, or chamber ensemble – not only contributing to their commission, but within each grant vitally giving them and their intended performers some means to devote focused workshop and rehearsal time to its creation. We expect to support resourceful composers already in conversation with the performers with whom they wish to collaborate. We want to help them realise their aspirations to optimal effect, and funding is contingent on recipients’ commitment to bring their music to live audiences through more than one performance.

This year, we expect to offer a total of £20,000 in grants for this, likely split between 2 or 3 composers, with grants in the region of £5,000 to £10,000 each. The closing date is 11am on Tuesday 1 July 2025. We regret we cannot consider applications received after this. We expect to let applicants know outcomes in September. Given this, activity for which you are applying should not be scheduled to take place prior to November 2025.

Who can apply?

As the RPS exists to support UK music-making, these grants are for established professional composers of any nationality either based in the UK and/or whose plans involve collaboration with UK performers, and performance to UK audiences.

All composers are unique and establish their careers in different ways, so we look forward to hearing from a broad range of applicants. Nonetheless, this particular fund is for composers who have already launched their career and are no longer in education/training nor applying for development programmes (such as the RPS Composers programme). Applicants should be able to demonstrate an original voice and significant musical proficiency, and how their music has already been positively embraced by performers and audiences.

The performers with whom you plan to collaborate should also be professionally established. We generally expect to give grants that will enable composers to collaborate with performers they have not worked with before. If you have worked together before, the application must compellingly express how this new venture will break new creative ground for you, significantly different from what you have achieved together before.

As a charity, we are keen to support a wide range of musicians and initiatives. If you have already received any kind of funding from the RPS within three years of the closing date (since 1 July 2022), we ask you not to apply at this time, but if eligible you may do so in a future year once that period has expired.

We continually strive to address how we can minimise barriers to the widest possible range of applicants. We are proud to adopt Sound and Music's Fair Access Principles and are signed up to the Keychange initiative, aiming to achieve 50:50 parity of marginalised genders in those we support. We warmly welcome applications from people of all backgrounds, particularly under-represented demographics, such as those who represent the global majority, those who are disabled, and those from working class backgrounds. If you feel that any part of our offer – or the experience in applying for it – could inhibit you or another candidate from applying, please do let us know (our contact details are below) and we will be happy to address this.

How to apply

For details on how to apply, please read the application guidelines linked here. These provide a step-by-step guide to the process and should address any questions you may have. We encourage you to read them in full before completing our online application form linked below.

Having read the guidelines, if you have further questions, please get in touch. In the first instance please contact Emily Porter, RPS Administrator, by email at admin@philharmonicsociety.uk or phone on 020 7287 0019.

As noted, the closing date is 11am on Tuesday 1 July 2025.

Click here to start your application:

Next steps

After the closing date, applications will be read with care, and your submitted compositions reviewed by us at the RPS and a select guest expert from the music profession. From this, we will create a shortlist of applications to share with Thea Musgrave and Peter Mark for their approval. Thank you for your patience as we fulfil this. We aim to let all applicants know outcomes in September. You can read about consequent steps for successful candidates following this in our application guidelines.