Clockwise: RPS Annual Report; BBC Singers at the RPS Awards; Inside The Music - with The Hermes Experiment; RPS Composer Sun Keting with pianist Clare Hammond; The RPS Conversation

Annual Report and Accounts

We are pleased to present a positive overview of the charity’s progress and achievements in our Annual Report and Accounts.

Each year, we publish our Annual Report and Accounts for the previous financial year which, at the RPS, runs like the UK concert season from September to August. When each year ends, it takes some time for an external auditor to fulfil their independent examination of the year’s accounts, and for Trustees to compile their report of the year. Once complete, the Annual Report and Accounts are shared with RPS Members ahead of the Annual General Meeting in May. 

The key elements of the Annual Report and Accounts are:

  • Chair’s introduction
  • Achievements and performance, regarding each of our charitable objects
  • Financial review
  • Comprehensive accounts, independently examined

You can read our most recent Annual Report and Accounts by clicking the button below, and previous editions further down this page.

RPS ANNUAL REPORT AND ACCOUNTS 2023-24

As it’s a significant document charting a whole year in the life of the charity, we also present the following overview:

SUMMARY 2023-24

Achievements and performance

  • The RPS continued to rouse public curiosity and engagement in classical music with a range of talks and events, including a major new occasion The RPS Conversation for music-makers and music-lovers to share passions and concerns about the future of classical music to fuel and refresh their outlook.
  • Composers supported by the RPS had premieres nationwide in locations including Manchester, Liverpool, Sheffield, Cheltenham, Yorkshire, Presteigne and London. In total, the RPS gave composers £56,600 in hand this year for the commission of new music, as well as helping them with advice, contacts and bespoke developmental opportunities.
  • Opportunities for performers included the ongoing RPS Women Conductors programme in partnership with Royal Northern Sinfonia: participants in this have included Charlotte Corderoy who this year made her debut conducting the RPO and Opera Holland Park, and Tess Jackson who conducted the NYO at the BBC Proms.
  • £17,000 of grants were given to 23 music college students in urgent need of funds to buy instruments of their own. In total, £45,700 this year went directly to performers, as well as much bespoke guidance and mentoring.
  • We presented the RPS Awards – ‘the biggest night in UK classical music’ The Sunday Times – for the first time ever out of London, at Manchester’s Royal Northern College of Music to a capacity audience.
  • Among the many musicians and musical ventures celebrated at the RPS Awards were Jasdeep Singh Degun becoming the first sitar play to receive the Instrumentalist Award, the BBC Singers who received the Ensemble Award, disabled musician Clare Johnston and Drake Music Scotland who received the Impact Award, Ukrainian opera-makers presented the Opera and Music Theatre Award for Chornobyldorf at Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival, and Sara Lee and the Irene Taylor Trust presented the Gamechanger Award for their life-changing work using music to help and empower people affected by the criminal justice system and in marginalised areas of society.
  • RPS Honorary Membership was also presented to two extraordinary women: horn player Sarah Willis – the first ever female brass musician appointed to the Berlin Philharmonic, and Ursula Jones who co-founded the English Chamber Orchestra and has done so much good for classical music in the UK and Europe since.
  • Angela Dixon succeeded John Gilhooly as Chair, after his 14 exemplary years in the role. Sarah Gee succeeded Angela as Honorary Secretary on the Board of Trustees.


Financial review

  • The RPS broke even on unrestricted funds for fourth consecutive year: an achievement only possible thanks to the ongoing support of RPS Members and a range of trusts and companies who believe in the charity and its cause.
  • The year overall saw a positive gain on investments, managed by Cazenove Capital, though as always these represent unrealised gains and – with significant current global and financial uncertainty – the charity remains dearly grateful to its funders as we strive to achieve lasting stability without statutory funding.
  • At year end, unrestricted reserves stood at £153,227, slightly short of the reserves policy target of £160,000 which Trustees deem necessary to cover six months of operating costs.

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