In the year ahead, each will receive a paid, professional commission and premiere with a valued partner organisation including: 12 Ensemble, Liverpool’s Ensemble 10:10, Hebrides Ensemble, Manchester Camerata, Music@Malling in Kent, Onyx Brass, Presteigne Festival in Wales, and Swaledale Festival in North Yorkshire.

Complementing this, we will support the composers with a year-long programme of mentoring and monthly development workshops spanning a wide range of vocational skills, designed to help with every aspect of working as a composer. We will introduce them to new contacts and expand the networks they need to fulfil individual career objectives and establish further commissions and opportunities of their own.

Click on each composer’s name to visit their dedicated page on our website where you can read more about them and listen to some of their music. We particularly invite programmers and commissioners to take a closer look at their work and please be in touch with us if you would like to connect with them. Our 2026 RPS Composers are:

Amelia Clarkson, from County Down in Northern Ireland, creates music that explores contemporary issues through tangible lenses such as nature, mythology and folklore. Her creative and societal aspirations are deeply connected, and she composes adventurous music that creates meaningful audience experiences. All Amelia’s work is shaped heavily by movement and she is particularly passionate about writing music for dance. She co-founded Belfast’s Six Dance Collective and has since written the city’s first ballet, bringing dance back to local stages.

Atefeh Einali’s music blends Western Classical composition techniques with her traditional Iranian musical training. She is particularly motivated to create spaces where diverse voices can meet and collaborate, and writes music that bridges cultures and fosters dialogue, reflecting diverse identities and shared human experiences. Her musical journey began as a santoor player in Tehran and she now teaches the instrument at Olympias Music Foundation, sharing Iranian music with younger generations to promote cultural understanding.

Crystalla Serghiou, from Cyprus, describes herself as a ‘popsical’ composer. She mixes classical music with pop, jazz, Cypriot folk music and everything in between: recent compositions include a concerto for jazz-scat singer, a yodel-choral work and a ‘popera’ which blends opera, musical theatre and pop styles. Crystalla uses her distinctive artistic voice to curate innovative concert programmes and is also committed to engaging new audiences and inspiring young people, and has recently set up the multi-genre Queens of Sound Orchestra, representing minority genders in music.  

Elif Karlıdağ is a Turkish-British composer whose music amplifies marginalised voices and connects with diverse audiences. Her work spans multidisciplinary art projects, community engagement and stage productions as well as music for documentaries and feature films. Elif creates unconventional sound worlds by combining traditional and non-traditional instruments, drawing on scale patterns and rhythmic practices from different musical cultures. She enjoys collaborating with performers, visual artists and writers and sees these projects as a dialogue, growing ideas into something no one discipline could achieve alone. 

George Stevenson is based in Scotland, where his musical life began as a jazz pianist. As a performer, he always found himself drawn to the harmonies of composers like Debussy, Messiaen and Dutilleux. His journey of discovery through contemporary classical music continues to inspire his work as a composer, while improvisation remains at the core of his music. This spirit of adventure, evident in his compositions, is driven by his excitement at discovering new harmonic languages and musical structures. 

Natalie Roe uses her skills as an electronic artist to bring acoustic classical music and electronic sounds together in her compositions. Based in Cardiff, Natalie’s entrepreneurial streak has seen her co-found The Flying Bedroom Theatre Company and sound-sculpture duo Tangible Lemon as vehicles for her innovative music. As well as writing for the concert hall, Natalie has composed music for TV and theatre, and created immersive sound installations in Helsinki as part of her studies in electronic music at the Sibelius Academy. 

Nneka Cummins, from Liverpool, creates classical music that takes inspiration from sources far beyond the traditional classical canon. They draw on the Afrofuturist aesthetic and West African-rooted art as influences and seek to write work that is innovative, accessible and relevant to modern audiences. Groove-driven rhythms and vibrant melodies are central to their compositions, which also use extended techniques to add colour and percussiveness. Nneka’s music often includes sampled electronics developed from orchestral source material, to explore the idea of deconstruction and re-building. 

Vivek Haria is a British composer of Indian heritage, whose music blends traditional and contemporary elements to create a unique sound world. Vivek discovered composition while at university, and at the core of his work is a deep connection to choral music. His artistic voice is shaped by an ongoing dialogue between Western and Indian classical traditions and he loves to write music that encourages performers to engage with new sonic and interpretative possibilities.

With this cohort, the RPS continues its historic tradition of supporting composers dating back to Mendelssohn, whose much-loved Italian Symphony was commissioned by the Society when Mendelssohn was in his twenties. Since 2000, the RPS has supported over 100 composers in their early careers. If you are inspired by this legacy, please consider supporting our work by becoming an RPS Member. Every subscription helps performers and composers at key stages in their careers, ensuring classical music continues to thrive for years to come. Find out more here.

Harriet Wybor, RPS General Manager says ‘Each year, we are captivated by the distinctive, innovative and heartfelt music written by composers who apply to the RPS Composers programme. We applaud their creativity and perseverance in challenging times for the arts in the UK – where limited funding, access to opportunities and high costs of living make creative careers increasingly precarious. We are excited to commission new music from our 2026 RPS Composers, which will be heard by audiences nationwide. We are so grateful to our performance partners, to all the expert voices who contribute to our vocational development workshops, and to RPS Members and supporters for their faith in this programme. This year, we are especially grateful to composers Charlotte Bray (with thanks to Birdsong Music Publishing), Des Oliver and Tom Coult for the time and care they gave to reviewing applications.’

We care that opportunities like this are open and attainable to composers from all backgrounds. We are proud to adhere to Sound and Music's Fair Access Principles and to PRS Foundation’s KeyChange initiative to achieve 50:50 gender parity in the composers we support. We are pleased to disclose the diversity data where provided by our applicants for this programme, as follows:

37% of applicants identified as ethnically diverse (2025: 29%; 2024: 21%) comprising 5% Black, 17% Asian, and 15% any other ethnically diverse group.

19% of applicants identified as disabled (2025: 18%; 2024: 9%).

28% of applicants identified as female (2025: 34%; 2024: 27%). 9% identified as non-binary, trans or genderfluid (2025: 8%; 2024: 9%).

Collectively, we seek and encourage candidates from diverse backgrounds to apply to our programmes. Over 130 composers applied, and all received feedback tailored for this year that we hope will be useful for their further progress and applications to other initiatives. We signpost further opportunities and devote time to address what we can do to support talented creatives with colleagues sector-wide.

The RPS Composers programme could not happen without the support of RPS Members, PRS Foundation Talent Development Network supported by PPL, Delius Trust, Fidelio Charitable Trust, Garrick Charitable Trust, Harold Hyam Wingate Foundation, Idlewild Trust, John Ellerman Foundation, Marchus Trust, Presteigne Festival, Radcliffe Trust, RPS Susan Bradshaw Composers' Fund, RPS Thea Musgrave Fund, Vaughan Williams Foundation, and several anonymous donors.