The Royal Philharmonic Society Music Awards are given annually for live classical music-making in the United Kingdom. The awards were first held in 1989 and are independent of any commercial interest. Since 2003,

BBC Radio 3 BBC Radio 3 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It replaced the BBC Third Programme in 1967 and broadcasts classical music and opera, with jazz, world music, drama, culture and the arts also featuring. The sta ...

has been the media partners of the awards and all the winners are celebrated in a full-length "Performance on 3" broadcast. The Royal Philharmonic Society, founded in 1813, is a registered UK Charity dedicated to creating a future for music. It is one of the world's oldest music societies with a membership including both professional musicians and music lovers. Nominations for its awards are invited annually from members of the society, members of the music profession and UK musical organisations. Each category is decided by an independent jury who is asked to judge the nominations on the criteria of creativity, excellence and understanding. Recipients each receive a handcrafted silver lyre trophy made by the silversmith Julie Jones. Thirteen awards are given annually with categories for performers, composers, programmers, audience engagement, communication and learning and participation. There is no restriction on the nationality of recipients. The awards are presented each May at a dinner in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

. Each year the presentation is made by an eminent musician and a distinguished cultural figure is invited to address the guests. Recent speakers have included Dame Liz Forgan,

Richard Holloway Richard Holloway FRSE (born 26 November 1933) is a Scottish writer, broadcaster and cleric. He was the Bishop of Edinburgh from 1986 to 2000 and Primus of the Scottish Episcopal Church from 1992 to 2000. Early life and education Born in Pos ...

Nicholas Hytner Sir Nicholas Robert Hytner (; born 7 May 1956) is an English theatre director, film director, and film producer. He was previously the Artistic Director of London's National Theatre. His major successes as director include '' Miss Saigon'', ''T ...

, Jude Kelly, Alan Rusbridger,

Armando Iannucci Armando Giovanni Iannucci (; born 28 November 1963) is a Scottish satirist, writer, director, producer, performer, and panellist. Born in Glasgow to Italian parents, Iannucci studied at the University of Glasgow followed by the University ...

, Neil MacGregor,

Grayson Perry Grayson Perry (born 1960) is an English contemporary artist, writer and broadcaster. He is known for his ceramic vases, tapestries, and cross-dressing, as well as his observations of the contemporary arts scene, and for dissecting British "pre ...

, Mark Ravenhill and Gareth Malone.

Winner

Instrumentalist

Source: * 1990 Håkan Hardenberger * 1991 Evelyn Glennie * 1992 Geoffrey Parsons * 1993 Steven Isserlis * 1994

Iona Brown Iona Brown, OBE, (7 January 19415 June 2004) was a British violinist and conductor. Early life and education Elizabeth Iona Brown was born in Salisbury and was educated at Cranborne Chase School, Dorset. Her parents, Antony and Fiona, were ...

* 1995

András Schiff Sir András Schiff (; born 21 December 1953) is a Hungarian-born British classical pianist and conductor, who has received numerous major awards and honours, including the Grammy Award, Gramophone Award, Mozart Medal, and Royal Academy of Mus ...

* 1996

Itzhak Perlman Itzhak Perlman ( he, יצחק פרלמן; born August 31, 1945) is an Israeli-American violinist widely considered one of the greatest violinists in the world. Perlman has performed worldwide and throughout the United States, in venues that hav ...

* 1997

Julian Bream Julian Alexander Bream (15 July 193314 August 2020) was an English classical guitarist and lutenist. Regarded as one of the most distinguished classical guitarists of the 20th century, he played a significant role in improving the public perce ...

* 1998

Murray Perahia Murray David Perahia () (born April 19, 1947) is an American pianist and conductor. He is widely considered one of the greatest living pianists. He was the first North American pianist to win the Leeds International Piano Competition, in 1972. Kn ...

* 1999 Graham Johnson * 2000 Leif Ove Andsnes * 2001 Piotr Anderszewski * 2002 Thomas Trotter * 2003 Paul Lewis * 2004 Mitsuko Uchida * 2005

Pierre-Laurent Aimard Pierre-Laurent Aimard (born 9 September 1957) is a French pianist. Biography Aimard was born in Lyon, where he entered the conservatory. Later he studied with Yvonne Loriod and with Maria Curcio. In 1973, he was awarded the chamber music priz ...

* 2006 Anthony Marwood * 2007

Michael Collins Michael Collins or Mike Collins most commonly refers to: * Michael Collins (Irish leader) (1890–1922), Irish revolutionary leader, soldier, and politician * Michael Collins (astronaut) (1930–2021), American astronaut, member of Apollo 11 and ...

* 2008

Imogen Cooper Dame Imogen Cooper, (born 28 August 1949) is an English pianist. Biography Cooper was born in North London, daughter of the musicologist Martin du Pré Cooper and Mary Stewart, artist. She grew up surrounded by music through her parents and ...

* 2009 Janine Jansen * 2010 Stephen Hough * 2011 Leon Fleisher * 2012

Maurizio Pollini Maurizio Pollini (born 5 January 1942) is an Italian pianist. He is known for performances of compositions by Beethoven, Chopin and Debussy, among others. He has also championed and performed works by contemporary composers such as Pierre Boulez ...

* 2013 Steven Osborne * 2014 Patricia Kopatchinskaja * 2015

Colin Currie Colin David Currie (born 25 September 1976) is a Scottish virtuoso percussionist. He is the founder and leader of the Colin Currie Group, an ensemble dedicated to performing and recording the music of Steve Reich. Biography Early years Colin ...

* 2016 Daniil Trifonov * 2017 James Ehnes * 2018 Igor Levit * 2019 Alina Ibragimova * 2020 Lawrence Power

Conductor

Source: * 1990

Simon Rattle Sir Simon Denis Rattle (born 19 January 1955) is a British-German conductor. He rose to international prominence during the 1980s and 1990s, while music director of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra (1980–1998). Rattle was principa ...

* 1991 Andrew Davis * 1992

Klaus Tennstedt Klaus Hermann Wilhelm Tennstedt (; June 6, 1926 – January 11, 1998) was a German conductor from Merseburg. Known for his interpretation of the Austro-German repertoire, especially his sympathetic approaches towards Gustav Mahler, Tennstedt ...

* 1993

Edward Downes Sir Edward Thomas ("Ted") Downes, CBE (17 June 1924 – 10 July 2009) was an English conductor, specialising in opera. He was associated with the Royal Opera House from 1952, and with Opera Australia from 1970. He was also well known for his ...

* 1994

Colin Davis Sir Colin Rex Davis (25 September 1927 – 14 April 2013) was an English conductor, known for his association with the London Symphony Orchestra, having first conducted it in 1959. His repertoire was broad, but among the composers with whom h ...

* 1995

Nikolaus Harnoncourt Johann Nikolaus Harnoncourt or historically Johann Nikolaus Graf de la Fontaine und d'Harnoncourt-Unverzagt; () (6 December 1929 – 5 March 2016) was an Austrian conductor, particularly known for his historically informed performances of music ...

* 1996 Richard Hickox * 1997 Richard Armstrong * 1998

Esa-Pekka Salonen Esa-Pekka Salonen (; born 30 June 1958) is a Finnish orchestral conductor and composer. He is principal conductor and artistic advisor of the Philharmonia Orchestra in London, conductor laureate of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and music di ...

* 1999 Bernard Haitink * 2000 Sir Charles Mackerras * 2001

Pierre Boulez Pierre Louis Joseph Boulez (; 26 March 1925 – 5 January 2016) was a French composer, conductor and writer, and the founder of several musical institutions. He was one of the dominant figures of post-war Western classical music. Born in Mo ...

* 2002 Osmo Vänskä * 2003

Marin Alsop Marin Alsop ( �mɛər.ɪn ˈæːl.sɑːp born October 16, 1956) is an American conductor, the first woman to win the Koussevitzky Prize for conducting and the first conductor to be awarded a MacArthur Fellowship. She is music director laureate ...

* 2004 Mariss Jansons * 2005 Antonio Pappano * 2006 Mark Elder * 2007

Vladimir Jurowski Vladimir Mikhailovich Jurowski (; born 4 April 1972) is a Russian conductor. He is the son of conductor Michail Jurowski, and grandson of Soviet film music composer Vladimir Michailovich Jurowski. Early life Born in Moscow, Jurowski began hi ...

* 2008 Edward Gardner * 2009 Valery Gergiev * 2010 Oliver Knussen * 2011 Iván Fischer * 2012 Claudio Abbado * 2013

Kirill Karabits Kyrylo Karabych ( uk, Кирило Карабиць); born 26 December 1976) is a Ukrainian conductor. Biography Early Life Karabits' father was the conductor and composer Ivan Karabyts. Karabits was born in Kyiv (then in the Ukrainian SSR ...

* 2014

Daniel Barenboim Daniel Barenboim (; in he, דניאל בארנבוים, born 15 November 1942) is an Argentine-born classical pianist and conductor based in Berlin. He has been since 1992 General Music Director of the Berlin State Opera and "Staatskapellmeist ...

* 2015 Andris Nelsons * 2016 Sakari Oramo * 2017

Richard Farnes Richard Farnes (born 1964) is a British conductor, and was Music Director of Opera North from 2004 to 2016. Education Farnes was a chorister at King's College, Cambridge before entering Eton College as a music scholar in 1977. He returned to ...

* 2018

* 2019 Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla * 2020

Dalia Stasevska Dalia Stasevska (born 30 December 1984) is a Finnish conductor. She is currently the principal guest conductor of the BBC Symphony Orchestra, and chief conductor of the Lahti Symphony Orchestra. Biography Born in Kyiv, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Unio ...

Singer

Source: * 1990 Philip Langridge * 1991 Anne Sofie von Otter * 1992 John Tomlinson * 1993 Julia Varady * 1994 Galina Gorchakova * 1995 Simon Keenlyside * 1996 Anthony Michaels-Moore * 1997 Bryn Terfel * 1998

Joan Rodgers Joan Rodgers C.B.E. (born 1956, Cleator Moor, Cumbria, England) is an English operatic soprano. She was married to the conductor Paul Daniel, and married Alan Samson in 2013. She studied singing with Audrey Langford. She made her professional o ...

* 1999 John Tomlinson * 2000 David Daniels * 2001 Gerald Finley * 2002 Violeta Urmana * 2003 Lisa Saffer * 2004

Susan Chilcott Susan Chilcott (8 July 1963 – 4 September 2003) was an English soprano, considered one of the best of her generation. She died of breast cancer at the age of 40. She had success in many of the major opera houses around the world and was pa ...

( osthumous) *_2005_Ben_Heppner *_2006_Joyce_DiDonato.html" ;"title="Ben_Heppner.html" ;"title="osthumous) * 2005 Ben Heppner">osthumous) * 2005 Ben Heppner * 2006 Joyce DiDonato">Ben_Heppner.html" ;"title="osthumous) * 2005 Ben Heppner">osthumous) * 2005 Ben Heppner * 2006 Joyce DiDonato * 2007 John Mark Ainsley * 2008 John Tomlinson * 2009 Susan Bullock * 2010 Philip Langridge * 2011

Susan Bickley Susan Bickley is a British mezzo-soprano singer who performs in opera, Baroque and contemporary classical music. Personal life and education Susan Rochford Bickley was born into a Welsh family in Liverpool, England. Her father was a primary sc ...

* 2012

Toby Spence Toby Spence (born 22 May 1969, London) is a British tenor active internationally on the concert platform, in the opera house and in recordings across a wide range of classical music. Early life and studies Spence was born into a musical family t ...

* 2013 Sarah Connolly * 2014 Joyce DiDonato * 2015 Christian Gerhaher * 2016

Roderick Williams Roderick Gregory Coleman Williams OBE (born 1965) is a British baritone and composer. Biography Williams was born in North London to a Welsh father and a Jamaican mother. He attended Christ Church Cathedral School in Oxford and Haberdashers' A ...

* 2017 Karita Mattila * 2018

Allan Clayton Allan James Clayton (1981) is a British tenor singer. Clayton was a chorister at Worcester Cathedral and a choral scholar in the Choir of St John's College, Cambridge. He was a BBC New Generation Artist from 2007-09 and winner of the Royal Phi ...

* 2019

Nina Stemme Nina Maria Stemme (born Nina Maria Thöldte on 11 May 1963) is a Swedish dramatic soprano opera singer. Stemme "is regarded by today's opera fans as our era's greatest Wagnerian soprano". In 2010, Michael Kimmelman wrote of one of Stemme's perf ...

* 2020 Natalya Romaniw

Large-Scale Composition

Source: * 1990

Olivier Messiaen Olivier Eugène Prosper Charles Messiaen (, ; ; 10 December 1908 – 27 April 1992) was a French composer, organist, and ornithology, ornithologist who was one of the major composers of the 20th-century classical music, 20th century. His m ...

* 1991

Poul Ruders Poul Ruders (born 27 March 1949) is a Danish composer. Life Born in Ringsted, Ruders trained as an organist, and studied orchestration with Karl Aage Rasmussen. Ruders's first compositions date from the mid-1960s. Ruders regards his own composi ...

* 1992 Harrison Birtwistle * 1993

Magnus Lindberg Magnus Gustaf Adolf Lindberg (born 27 June 1958) is a Finnish composer and pianist. He was the New York Philharmonic's composer-in-residence from 2009 to 2012 and has been the London Philharmonic Orchestra's composer-in-residence since the ...

* 1994 Witold Lutoslawski * 1995 Peter Maxwell Davies * 1996 Michael Tippett * 1997 Colin Matthews * 1998 Thomas Adès * 1999 Henri Dutilleux * 2000 Gérard Grisey * 2001 Wolfgang Rihm * 2002 Peter Eötvös * 2003 George Benjamin * 2004 Harrison Birtwistle * 2005 Thomas Adès: '' The Tempest'' * 2006 Julian Anderson: ''The Book of Hours'' * 2007 Jonathan Harvey: ''...towards a pure land'' * 2008 Thomas Adès: ''

Tevot ''Tevot'' is a one-movement symphony for orchestra by the British composer Thomas Adès. The work was commissioned by the Berlin Philharmonic and Carnegie Hall. The world premiere was given by the Berlin Philharmonic under the direction of Simon ...

'' * 2009 George Benjamin: ''Into the Little Hill'' * 2010 Kaija Saariaho: '' Notes on Light'' * 2011 James Dillon: ''Nine Rivers'' * 2012 Jonathan Harvey: ''Messages'' * 2013 Gerald Barry: ''

The Importance of Being Earnest ''The Importance of Being Earnest, A Trivial Comedy for Serious People'' is a play by Oscar Wilde. First performed on 14 February 1895 at the St James's Theatre in London, it is a farcical comedy in which the protagonists maintain fictitious ...

'' * 2014 George Benjamin: ''Written On Skin'' * 2015

Hans Abrahamsen Hans Abrahamsen (born 23 December 1952) is a Danish composer born in Kongens Lyngby near Copenhagen. His '' Let me tell you'' (2013), a song cycle for soprano and orchestra, was ranked by music critics at ''The Guardian'' as the finest work of t ...

: '' Let me tell you...'' * 2016

Luca Francesconi Luca Francesconi (born 17 March 1956) is an Italian composer. He studied at the Milan Conservatory, then with Karlheinz Stockhausen and Luciano Berio. Early years Luca Francesconi was born in Milan. His father was a painter who edited ''Il C ...

: ''Duende, The Dark Notes: violin concerto'' * 2017

Philip Venables Philip Venables (born 1979) is a British composer best known for his operatic and theatrical works with themes of sexuality, violence and politics. Life and career Born in Chester, Venables studied at Jesus College, Cambridge and the Royal ...

: ''

4.48 Psychosis ''4.48 Psychosis'' is the final play by British playwright Sarah Kane. It was her last work, first staged at the Royal Court's Jerwood Theatre Upstairs on 23 June 2000, directed by James Macdonald, nearly one and a half years after Kane's deat ...

'' * 2018 Mark-Anthony Turnage: ''Hibiki'' * 2019 Rebecca Saunders: ''Yes'' * 2020 Frank Denyer: ''The Fish that Became the Sun (Songs of the Dispossessed)''

Chamber-Scale Composition

Source: * 1990 Simon Holt * 1991 Harrison Birtwistle * 1992 Barry Guy * 1993 Oliver Knussen * 1994

John Adams John Adams (October 30, 1735 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, attorney, diplomat, writer, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the second president of the United States from 1797 to 1801. Befor ...

* 1995

Luciano Berio Luciano Berio (24 October 1925 – 27 May 2003) was an Italian composer noted for his experimental work (in particular his 1968 composition ''Sinfonia'' and his series of virtuosic solo pieces titled ''Sequenza''), and for his pioneering work ...

* 1996

Brian Ferneyhough Brian John Peter Ferneyhough (; born 16 January 1943) is an English composer. Ferneyhough is typically considered the central figure of the New Complexity movement. Ferneyhough has taught composition at the Hochschule für Musik Freiburg and t ...

* 1997 Elliott Carter: String Quartet No. 5 * 1998 James Dillon * 1999

* 2000 Hans Werner Henze * 2001

György Ligeti György Sándor Ligeti (; ; 28 May 1923 – 12 June 2006) was a Hungarian-Austrian composer of contemporary classical music. He has been described as "one of the most important avant-garde composers in the latter half of the twentieth century ...

* 2002 Simon Holt * 2003 James Dillon * 2004 Helmut Lachenmann * 2005

Howard Skempton Howard While Skempton (born 31 October 1947) is an English composer, pianist, and accordionist. Since the late 1960s, when he helped to organise the Scratch Orchestra, he has been associated with the English school of experimental music. Skem ...

* 2006 James Dillon: String Quartet No. 4 * 2007 Richard Causton: ''Phoenix'' * 2008 Rebecca Saunders: ''Stirrings Still'' * 2009 Harrison Birtwistle: ''The Tree of Strings'' * 2010 Kevin Volans * 2011

: String Quartet No. 6 * 2012

Sally Beamish Sarah Frances Beamish (born 26 August 1956) is a British composer and violist. Her works include chamber, vocal, choral and orchestral music. She has also worked in the field of music, theatre, film and television, as well as composing for c ...

: ''Reed Stanzas'' (String Quartet No. 3) * 2013 Rebecca Saunders: ''Fletch'' * 2014 Harrison Birtwistle: ''The Moth Requiem'' * 2015 Graham Fitkin: ''Distil'' * 2016 Julian Anderson: ''Van Gogh Blue'' * 2017 Rebecca Saunders: ''Skin'' * 2018 James Dillon: ''Tanz/haus Triptych 2017'' * 2019

Tansy Davies Tansy Davies (born 29 May 1973, Bristol) is an English composer of contemporary classical music. She won the BBC Young Composers' Competition in 1996 and has written works for ensembles such as the London Symphony Orchestra, the BBC Symphony Orc ...

: ''Cave'' * 2020 Naomi Pinnock: ''I am, I am''

References

External links

RPS Awards

Past Recipients

Royal Philharmonic Society

BBC Radio 3
{{Classical music awards British music awards Classical music awards Royal Philharmonic Society Awards established in 1989 Recurring events established in 1989 1989 establishments in the United Kingdom