Opera Director Graham Vick was presented with RPS Honorary Membership at this year's RPS Music Awards

The RPS citation reads: "Graham Vick has single-handedly changed the way we think about opera. An opera director of worldwide renown, everything he does stems from a passionate belief that opera that has excellence and accessibility at its core, speaks to everyone. He has taken opera out of the opera house and revitalised the repertoire, creating productions that engage both operatic new comers and the most hardened devotees...The point of opera, he says, is “to spark a debate about the way you live your life, about the society you’re in, the way we relate to each other and the choices we make.”

Graham Vick RPS Awards 2016 from Xenoki on Vimeo.

Responding to the presentation by Chairman John Gilhooly, he gave a hard hitting speech challenging the profession: “Music effects change by touching humanity. Through music we can harness and share the richness of cultural background and identity, the breadth of life experience and alternative perspectives available in our expanding communities and enrich all our understanding..... It’s time for each one of us to step up and take responsibility for the well-being of our society rather than just taking. I want our work to be part of the solution not the problem."

Read the speech in full

RPS Honorary Membership recognises outstanding contributions to music and was first presented in 1826.

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