The shortlists showcase a host of good news stories about classical music in the UK, and shine a light on the musicians, ensembles, organisations and initiatives that inspire and enrich lives nationwide.

Following presentations in Manchester and Birmingham in 2024 and 2025 respectively, ‘the biggest night in UK classical music’ (The Sunday Times) returns to London in 2026 for a star-studded evening that welcomes major figures in music, celebrity enthusiasts, and the music-loving public. The RPS Awards take place at the Southbank Centre’s Queen Elizabeth Hall, on Thursday 12 March 2026. Tickets are £10 to £35 (plus venue booking fee and restoration levy) with a 25% discount on group bookings of 5 or more tickets. Click here for more details.

As we announce the shortlists, our Chief Executive James Murphy has been invited to write a comment piece forThe Guardian on why it’s time to share more good news stories about UK classical music. Click here to read the full article.

•    Among the star names shortlisted are conductor John Wilson, soprano Louise Alder who sang at the 2025 BBC Last Night of the Proms, composer Mark-Anthony Turnage for The Royal Ballet and Opera’s hit Festen, and Peter Moore who in 2008, aged just 12, won the televised final of BBC Young Musician, and now becomes the first trombone player to be shortlisted for the RPS Instrumentalist Award.

•    The shortlists are a national success story, with nominees from Scotland (including Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Kirkcaldy Orchestral Society, Scotland-based composer David Fennessy, and Glasgow’s Nordic Music Days festival), Wales (including the choir Cantorion Llandrindod, and the community opera Gresffordd: I’r Goleuni ’Nawr / Gresford: Up from Underground) and across England (including Bradford Accordion Band, Birmingham Opera Company, and Kent’s JAM on the Marsh festival).

•    Classical music’s power to change lives for the better is proven once again by the RPS Impact Award, where the shortlist includes the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment’s stunning Breaking Bach in which school students found creativity and confidence, dancing new moves to J.S. Bach; Gresffordd: I’r Goleuni ’Nawr / Gresford: Up from Underground where a Welsh community found unity and catharsis making an opera about the village’s historic mining disaster; and Orchestras for All, the music charity that empowers young people to take the lead in their own experience, organising life-changing creative experiences for those who would not otherwise have such opportunity.

•    Disabled artists are celebrated, with nominations for the one-handed pianist Nicholas McCarthy in the Instrumentalist category, having wowed the BBC Proms last Summer, blind pianist Ethan Loch in the Young Artist category, and Deaf cornet player Sean Chandler for his work with Shepherd Brass Band in York, in the Inspiration category.

•    Multiple nominees represent the global majority including Iranian composer Golfam Khayam, South African mezzo soprano Masabane Cecilia Rangwanasha, Venezuelan conductor Domingo Hindoyan, and British-born Lebanese composer Bushra El-Turk.

•    The UK’s constellation of amateur groups is recognised with the RPS Inspiration Award, the winner of which is decided by public vote from a shortlist comprising Bradford Accordion Band, Cantorion Llandrindod, Kirkcaldy Orchestral Society, and Sean Chandler and Shepherd Brass Band. Visit the RPS website by 11am on Monday 2 February 2026 to discover more about the nominees and vote for this award.

This year’s RPS Awards, featuring performances from a range of nominees, is hosted by BBC Radio 3 presenters Georgia Mann and Petroc Trelawny with trophies presented by RPS Chair Angela Dixon. The event will be filmed to watch on the RPS website from Thursday 19 March, and BBC Radio 3 presents a special broadcast featuring music of the winners and nominees at 7.30pm on Friday 13 March.

The RPS Awards can only happen thanks to dedicated supporters, and the charity is especially grateful to this year’s Principal Supporters – BBC Radio 3, ABRSM, BBC Music Magazine, Decca Classics, Dorico from Steinberg, Presto Music, PRS for Music, and Sir Simon and Victoria, Lady Robey CBE – and those who support individual awards as detailed below.

Chamber-Scale Composition
supported by Boosey & Hawkes in memory of Tony Fell
Bushra El-Turk Three Tributes
Claudia Molitor Fever
Richard Causton If I Could Tell You 

Conductor
supported by Chandos Records
Domingo Hindoyan
Ellie Slorach
John Wilson

Ensemble 
supported by Outhere Music Group
Royal Scottish National Orchestra
Tenebrae
The Carice Singers

Impact 
supported by Oxford University Press Music
Breaking Bach – Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment
Gresffordd: I’r Goleuni ‘Nawr / Gresford: Up from Underground 
Orchestras for All

Inspiration 
supported by Stainer & Bell
Bradford Accordion Band
Cantorion Llandrindod
Kirkcaldy Orchestral Society
Sean Chandler and Shepherd Brass Band

Instrumentalist 
supported by The Early Music Shop
Nicholas McCarthy piano 
Peter Moore trombone 
Vilde Frang violin 

Large-Scale Composition
supported by The Boltini Trust
David Fennessy Bog Cantata
Golfam Khayam I am not a tale to be told
Mark-Anthony Turnage Festen 

Opera and Music Theatre 
supported by Wise Music Group
Festen – The Royal Ballet and Opera
Uprising – Glyndebourne
woman.life.song – Birmingham Opera Company 

Series and Events 
supported by Warner Classics
JAM on the Marsh
Multitudes – Southbank Centre
Nordic Music Days

Singer
supported by Jenny Hodgson
Christine Rice mezzo soprano
Louise Alder soprano 
Masabane Cecilia Rangwanasha soprano 

Storytelling 
supported by Martin Randall Festivals
Everything We Do is Music – Elizabeth Alker
Robben Island’s Hallelujah – BBC Radio 4 and Falling Tree Productions 
Solitude with Schubert 

Young Artist 
supported by Julian Lloyd Webber
Ethan Loch piano 
Hugh Cutting countertenor 
Matilda Lloyd trumpet 

An additional award – Gamechanger – without a shortlist is supported by I Can Compose and presented at the RPS Awards to those who in unique and contemporary ways continue to break new ground in classical music. It is specially presented by the Board and Council of the RPS to an initiative, individual, group or organisation for their inspirational and transformative work.

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If you are a member of the press and would like further information about the RPS Awards, please contact Maddie Castell at Rebecca Driver Media Relations.