In 2017, the RPS made awards to young musicians and composers to the tune of £91,000 and it supports over 100 young musicians annually through its burgeoning RPS Young Musicians Programme. Over the next three months there are opportunities to hear new compositions, performances by emerging professional musicians, and for professional female musicians to gain a first experience of conducting through the RPS Women Conductors. Highlights include:

RPS/Classic FM 25th Birthday Commissions

With support from the Boltini Trust
December marks the culmination of an RPS/Classic FM commissioning project. Seven young composers – each no older than the radio station, which celebrated its 25th anniversary this year – were commissioned by the RPS/Classic FM to write new works for ensembles and musicians nationwide, and for broadcast on Classic FM. The final work to be premiered, 22-year-old Marco Galvani’s On Christmas Morn is being performed as part of The Sixteen’s Christmas tour, at venues across the UK. The work sets lines from Anne Brontë’s poem, Music on Christmas Morning. Visit www.thesixteen.comfor full tour details.

The RLPO's world premiere performance of Alexia Sloane’s Elegy for Aylan, recorded at Philharmonic Hall in October, will be broadcast as part of The Full Works Concert on Classic FM, from 8pm on Wednesday 27th December, whilst on 11 December, flautist Sir James Galway with pianist Dearbhla Brosnan will record 23-year-old Alex Woolf’s new work Golden Rhapsody in Dublin, for broadcast on Classic FM in the New Year.

RPS Young Musicians Recital

Wednesday 24 January, 6.45pm, 22 Mansfield Street, London W1G 9NR
The RPS Young Musicians recital is an annual event, in aid of the RPS Young Musicians programme, which gives the chance to hear outstanding emerging musical talent and to support the young musicians of the future. The 2018 recital features the Pelléas Ensemble, who won the inaugural RPS Henderson Chamber Ensemble Award in 2017, and 26-year-old Dutch violinist Amarins Wierdma, winner of the RPS Emily Anderson Award for string players. Music includes arrangements of work by Rameau and Ravel, and string works by Messiaen, Prokofiev and Kreisler. The evening also includes a conversation with the musicians, as well as composers Dani Howard and Jack Pepper, who both wrote RPS/Classic FM 25th birthday commissions.

Tickets for the evening are £40 and include concert and dinner, with funds going towards the RPS Young Musicians Programme.

RPS Women Conductors

Sunday 4 February, Blackheath Halls, 23 Lee Rd, London SE3 9RQ
Conductor Alice Farnham leads the first RPS Women Conductors workshop of 2018, held at Blackheath Halls as part of a weekend of marking the 100th anniversary of women getting the vote. The RPS Women Conductors workshops are designed specifically to encourage more women to conduct, and since the RPS joined forces with Women Conductors (formerly know as Women Conductors at Morley) in 2016, over 100 women have participated in the programme.

The workshop on 4 February is for female music professionals of all ages (minimum age 18) wishing to supplement their careers by adding conducting to their professional portfolios. Applications are NOW OPEN