In the year ahead, each will receive a paid, professional commission and premiere with a valued partner organisation including: City of London Sinfonia, Cowbridge Music Festival, Leeds Song, Fenella Humphreys, Onyx Brass, Presteigne Festival, Ryedale Festival and Swaledale Festival.

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. Newly this year, we are pleased to be working with accredited coach Ruth Cooper-Dickson, supporting each composer with strengths-based coaching designed to enhance wellbeing and build resilience to sustain a long-term career in music. We thank WildKat for pledging support towards the vocational development elements of the RPS Composers programme.

To discover more about our 2027 RPS Composers, click on each composer’s name below 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. 

Amy Crankshaw is a South African composer and orchestrator, whose musical interests include physicality, sensoria and embodiment. Her current inspirations include tactility and scent, and musicalising concepts like gravity, temperature and weight. Amy enjoys combining Western classical music and idiomatic instrumental writing with graphic scores and non-traditional techniques, and she loves collaborating with performers to realise her ideas. Amy‘s RPS commission will see her write a new work for City of London Sinfonia.

Anibal Vidal is a Chilean composer whose imaginative music uses language, theatrical gestures and musical quotations to explore the cultural context in which it exists. He is interested in contrasting sound-worlds and creating spaces where different emotional states – such as nostalgia, fragility, chaos and beauty – can co-exist. Anibal will write a new work for Carolyn Sampson (soprano) and Joseph Middleton (piano) at Leeds Song, commissioned by the RPS.

Claire Cope is a British composer and bandleader whose music spans contemporary classical, jazz and improvised music – including several albums with her contemporary jazz group Ensemble C. Her music focuses on emotional connectivity and storytelling, with a strong sense of narrative through harmony and rhythmic layering. Claire is also a passionate educator and works as an international examiner for ABRSM. Claire’s RPS commission will involve writing a new work for Ryedale Festival in North Yorkshire.

Edward Mascall-Robson is a Japanese-British composer and koto performer. He grew up in Japan learning traditional Japanese music, which forms a living part of his work today. Edward’s music aims to bring other musical cultures and traditions into the contemporary Western classical space. He aspires to work in close collaboration with performers, expanding the horizons of what music can be. Edward’s RPS commission will see him write a new work for Onyx Brass.

Jingyu Chen is a Chinese composer who creates poetic sound-worlds with delicate timbres, dreamlike imagery and an expressive musical language. She has a particular interest in timbre and colour, blending Eastern melodic elements with Western instrumental writing. Her music unfolds gradually, often with an intimate and immersive feel. For her RPS commission, Jingyu will write a new work for Daniel Shao (flute) and Mary Dullea (piano) at Presteigne Festival in Mid Wales.

Joanna Lee is a British composer who particularly enjoys writing for voice and ensemble, both on the concert platform and the operatic stage. Joanna is drawn to satire, and the power of music to be profound as well as to uplift and amuse. She is also passionate about writing for communities and has written several children’s operas and songs for primary school children, while developing music provision in local schools. Joanna’s RPS commission is a new work for Kaleidoscope Chamber Collective at Cowbridge Music Festival in South Wales.

Louis Palfrey is a composer particularly known for his music for podcasts, films and art installations. He writes music in a wide range of genres – from folk and hip hop beats to experimental film scores – and leads free improvision workshops for beginners that empower performers to express themselves. He is currently pursuing a PhD exploring free improvisation, music technology and Neurodivergent identity. For his RPS commission, Louis will write a new work for Fenella Humphreys (violin).

Ruby Colley is a composer from East Sussex, whose music spans contemporary classical, folk and sound art. Her music often explores or conveys contrasting ideas, such as human industrialisation and the natural world. She uses field recordings as an integral part of her artistic process and is interested in building sound-worlds that combine electronics and instrumentation as equal partners. Ruby also teaches violin and music theory, and runs field recording workshops. Ruby’s RPS commission is a new work for Swaledale Festival in the Yorkshire Dales.

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 us to help 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 ‘We are so pleased to support these exceptional composers and commission captivating new music for audiences nationwide. In challenging times for the arts in the UK – where limited funding, access to opportunities and high costs of living make careers increasingly precarious – we take pride in championing new music and developing a holistic programme of support for composers establishing their careers.  We are so grateful to our programme 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 Emily Howard, Leo Chadburn and Bushra El-Turk 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:

38% of applicants identified as ethnically diverse (2026: 37%; 2025: 29%) comprising 4% Black, 21% Asian, and 14% any other ethnically diverse group.

22% of applicants identified as disabled (2026: 19%; 2025: 18%).

37% of applicants identified as female (2026: 28%, 2025: 34%). 3% identified as non-binary, trans or genderfluid (2026: 9%, 2025: 8%)

Collectively, we seek and encourage candidates from diverse backgrounds to apply to our programmes. Over 100 composers applied, and 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, Idlewild Trust, John Ellerman Foundation, Marchus Trust, Presteigne Festival, RPS Susan Bradshaw Composers' Fund, Vaughan Williams Foundation, WildKat, and several anonymous donors.