This year’s awards include a new prize centered on ‘endangered’ classical instruments and for the first time, a brass quartet, whose members are drawn from some of the UK’s top brass bands, is amongst the winners.

The prize-winners are:

Izabela Musial (bassoon) and Maria Gilicel (violin), who both receive £2,500, and two quartets, the Barbican String Quartet and A4 Brass Quartet, who both receive £5000.

These instrumental prizes sit alongside RPS awards that were made to young singers, composers and student musicians in July 2018; they bring the total awarded by the Society to young musicians so far this year to £57,000.

28-year-old Polish bassoonist Izabela Musial receives the inaugural RPS Allianz Instrumentalist Prize, sponsored by Allianz Musical Insurance, which has been created to support outstanding young instrumentalists who play ‘endangered’ instruments (in 2018, the focus was on the bassoon). The ‘endangered’ family of instruments also includes oboe, French horn, viola, trombone, tuba and double bass; the prize’s spotlight will turn to a different instrument each year. In the year ahead, the RPS will help Izabela act as an advocate for the bassoon, encouraging younger counterparts to take up the instrument.

A4 Brass Quartet, winners of the RPS Henderson Prize, is comprised of principal players from some of the UK’s top brass bands, including Grimethorpe Colliery, Brighouse & Rastrick and Foden’s. The quartet, which was formed at the Royal Northern College of Music in 2013, has a unique blend of instruments - cornet, tenor horn, baritone and euphonium – for which it commissions and arranges repertoire. Already making a mark nationwide, the RPS will help them with their aspiration to meet audiences beyond the brass world and gain further recognition as a classical ensemble.

23-year-old Romanian violinist Maria Gilicel, the winner of the RPS Emily Anderson Prize for violinists, is a Masters student at the Royal College of Music and a member of the Chamber Orchestra of Europe Academy. Alina Ibragimova is amongst the previous winners of this prestigious prize. The RPS will help Maria activate plans that propel her to greater recognition.

The Barbican String Quartet, winners of the RPS Albert and Eugenie Frost Prize, was founded at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in 2014. 2016 Park Lane Group Artists, the quartet has appeared at festivals including IMS Prussia Cove and was resident at Aldeburgh in 2017. With this prize, the RPS annually helps an outstanding string ensemble to establish itself professionally through specialist coaching, performance opportunities and career advice.

Download the full press release below.