Applications for the RPS Emily Anderson Violin Prize are now closed, and we announced the latest winner, Olwen Miles, in January 2026. 

Information and guidelines remain below for reference. If you may like this information in a different format for accessibility reasons, please call us on 020 7287 0019 or email RPS Administrator Emily Porter at admin@philharmonicsociety.uk, and we will do our best to help.

This prize was established in the 1960s following a gift to the RPS in the Will of Emily Anderson, celebrated editor and translator of the letters of Mozart and Beethoven. Click here for its list of winners since 1967.

In 2025, the RPS Emily Anderson Violin Prize was awarded to Olwen Miles. Read more about her story and how we are supporting her.

WHO CAN APPLY?

Solo violinists of any nationality based in the UK throughout 2025-26, aged between 18 and 30 at the application closing date.

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 6 October 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 are continually striving to address how we can minimise barriers to the widest possible range of applicants and are proud to have adopted Sound and Music's Fair Access Principles. We particularly welcome applications from under-represented demographics, such as those who are Black, Asian and ethnically diverse, those who are working class and those who are disabled. If you sense that anything in these guidelines could deter you or another eligible candidate from applying, or if there’s anything you’d like to talk to us about, please do get in touch, using the contact details below. We would be happy to hear from you.
 

KEY DATES

The closing date for applications is 11am on Monday 6 October 2025.

We will be in touch with all applicants by Friday 24 October 2025, inviting those shortlisted to audition. Auditions are set to take place in London on Sunday 30 November 2025. If you are applying, we recommend you pencil that date in your diary now, as we will not have scope to offer alternative audition dates.
 

HOW CAN I APPLY?

We ask applicants to submit some recent footage of their playing and answer some brief questions. For full 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 RPS Administrator Emily Porter by email at admin@philharmonicsociety.uk or phone on 020 7287 0019.

As noted, the closing date is 11am on Monday 6 October 2025.

Click here to start your application:

NEXT STEPS

After the closing date, applications will be read with care and reviewed by us at the RPS, and a guest expert from the music profession. We will be in touch with all applicants by Friday 24 October 2025, inviting those shortlisted to audition. At the audition you will meet a panel that will comprise RPS staff and selected guest experts. After the audition, we aim to let you know the outcome of the audition within a few days.

You can read about consequent steps for successful candidates following this in our application guidelines.