The RPS was founded by musicians who wanted to make greater opportunities for themselves, and it has always continued to help musicians in this way. We present a range of opportunities year-round to musicians at different stages in their career. Central to this, we grant four prizes to outstanding young soloists and chamber groups establishing their careers, each receiving a cash prize as well as professional support addressing their individual needs and aspirations.

This year, we are pleased to award our four prizes to:

• Timothy Ridout – RPS Allianz Prize for solo viola – £2,500
  
  Timothy is one of the most promising violists of his generation. He performs extensively as a soloist and chamber artist in the UK and Europe, and has already collaborated with Isabel Faust, Janine Jansen, Kian Soltani, Benjamin Grosvenor, Lars Vogt, Nicolas Altstaedt and Christian Tetzlaff, among others. In 2016 he won 1st Prize in the Lionel Tertis Competition, was selected by Young Classical Artists Trust (YCAT), and has lately become a BBC New Generation Artist.
  
  As winner of the RPS Allianz Prize, Timothy will be our viola advocate for the year ahead, actively encouraging others to recognise the viola's worth which is often regarded as a 'shortage' instrument in need of more young players to take it up.
  
  
• Maja Horvat – RPS Emily Anderson Prize for solo violin – £2,500
  
  Maja is Leverhulme Arts Scholar at the Royal College of Music studying with Daniel Rowland and Leonid Kerbel. She has won prizes at national and international competitions, including 1st Prize, with full points, at the 2018 Temsig Slovenian National Competition. She is co-founder of the Brompton Quartet which won the 2019 St Martin's Chamber Competition and the Park Lane Group Award.
  
  The RPS Emily Anderson Prize has been supporting outstanding young violinists since 1967. It was established under the will of Emily Anderson, the renowned editor and translator of the letters of Mozart and Beethoven.
  
  
• Echéa Quartet – RPS Albert and Eugenie Frost Prize for string quarter or trio – £5,000
  
  The Echéa Quartet was formed in 2017 at the Royal Academy of Music where they are now Chamber Music Fellows. They are prizewinners of the 2018 International Anton Rubinstein Chamber Music Competition and finalists in the 2019 Royal Overseas-League Music Competition. Recently, the quartet embarked on a six-week tour of North America and performed on Canadian National Radio. New music is central to their work, which includes commissions from Louise Drewett and RPS Composer Robert Laidlow.
  
  
• Mithras Piano Trio – RPS Henderson Award for chamber ensemble – £5,000
  
  The Mithras Piano Trio came together in 2017 at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. They are winners of several prestigious prizes including the 10th Trondheim International Chamber Music Competition and the 67th Royal Over-Seas League Music Competition. Passionate exponents of contemporary music, they've worked extensively with composers Helen Grime and Julian Philips, and gave the world premiere at the Solti Hall in Budapest of a new piece by Péter Tornyai who dedicated the work to the trio after collaborating with them.

We are hugely grateful to Allianz Musical Insurance, the Albert and Eugenie Frost Music Trust, and Charles Henderson for their generous support of these prizes. Click each of the musicians' names above to find out more about them, and we look forward to telling you more about their progress in the year ahead.