Three years ago, Olivia Clarke caught the conducting bug at one of our Women Conductors courses, after just ten minutes conducting a string quartet. She writes here about the challenges and rewards of conducting, and the solidarity she's found from meeting other female musicians experiencing the same struggles as her own.

We are pleased to announce two significant new short courses as part of our thriving Women Conductors programme which aims to address gender inequality on the conducting podium.

Fiona Robertson, Director of the acclaimed Scottish new music organisation sound, is to be awarded the prestigious Leslie Boosey Award by the Royal Philharmonic Society.

Bassoonist Ashby Mayes, who received a £3,000 grant from the RPS to help purchase a new bassoon, spent a year searching and fundraising for his instrument. He writes about how he did it, the cities he visited, and what he learned along the way.

As long as there has been music, there has been dance. The Royal Philharmonic Society is inviting artists and practitioners in dance and music to join forces and think big, as we present substantial new funds to help fuel bright ideas.

What makes the bassoon a special instrument? How can we increase awareness of it among younger musicians and the wider public? Izabela Musial, winner of the inaugural RPS Allianz Prize and one of our newest young artists, answers these questions and more in this interview. Read on to learn about her personal story with the bassoon, and what she hopes to achieve as our advocate for the instrument.

21-year-old Phoebe Manley discovered her passion for orchestral conducting during high school and has never left the podium since. She was one of 10 participants on our Women Conductors workshop in Cardiff last December, and a recipient of an ABRSM bursary. Read about her conducting journey, and what she learned from Alice Farnham and Alma Sheehan on the Phase 1 workshop weekend.

We are delighted to announce 2018 RPS Composition Prize winner Daniel Fardon as the 2018/19 Rosie Johnson RPS Wigmore Hall Apprentice Composer.

What is writer's block? How does a composer unbind himself from it? RPS Composer Laurence Osborn talks about the endless possibilities in composition, how children's drawings inspired his prize commission 'Me and 4 Ponys' and how they helped him overcome 'writer's vertigo'.

As far back as 1826, when it first awarded Honorary Membership, the Royal Philharmonic Society has continually celebrated those who achieve remarkable feats in music.

The RPS’s burgeoning RPS Young Musicians and New Music Programmes has announced awards and prizes for composers and student musicians totaling over £40,000.

Beloved composer-conductor Oliver Knussen has died aged 66