We are pleased to announce the shortlist – and open public voting – for the 2026 RPS Inspiration Award, presented for the remarkable achievements of the UK’s non-professional music-makers.

Each year we invite young people aged 16 to 25 to express their musical opinions, thoughts and experiences through the RPS Young Classical Writers Prize. It’s an opportunity to write beyond the bounds of topics which might be set for essays at school, college or university, and capture in words what it is about classical music that resonates with them.

We are delighted to welcome six conductors newly joining our RPS Conductors programme in partnership with Royal Northern Sinfonia at The Glasshouse International Centre for Music in Gateshead. 

We are pleased to share the film of a conversation, hosted by Alexander Armstrong specially for the RPS, about the enduring power of music evoked in the major new British film ‘The Choral’.

We are delighted to announce almost £50,000 of grants supporting composers to write new music in creative dialogue with performers, and UK performances of Thea Musgrave's music. 

We announce eight composers joining the 2026 RPS Composers programme. We are proud to support their development over the coming year, sharing their music with audiences nationwide. 

We are pleased to announce that the RPS is the new home for a much-valued fund recognising and celebrating historic women composers.

We are delighted to announce £35,000 of grants to foster collaboration between composers and choreographers bringing exciting new works to the stage.

We are delighted to have presented the acclaimed Icelandic pianist Víkingur Ólafsson with one of the highest international honours in music: the RPS Gold Medal.

We are pleased to announce over £48,000 of grants to help 29 young musicians take the next step in their musical journey with our RPS Instrument Purchase Grants and RPS Isserlis Scholarships.

We are delighted to have presented Honorary Membership of the Royal Philharmonic Society to the Scottish trumpeter, composer and educator John Wallace.

We are pleased to announce that George Vass, Artistic Director at Presteigne Festival in Wales, has been awarded the RPS Leslie Boosey Award.