Page 55 - RPS Awards 2023 Coverage Book
P. 55
2 March 2023
Live review – Royal Philharmonic
Society Awards 2023 @ Queen
Elizabeth Hall
From left: RPS Awards winners Anna Lapwood, Abel Selaocoe, Leeds Piano Trail, The Endz,
Manchester Collective
Queen Elizabeth Hall
2 March 2023
by Ben Hogwood
Timing is everything in music – and as the attendees of the Royal Philharmonic Society
Awards unanimously agreed, both the show and its message at the Queen Elizabeth Hall
were just what classical music needed.
As RPS chairman John Gilhooly emphasised in his no holds barred opening address, times
in the industry are hard. Arts Council England have never been less connected with classical
music than they are currently, looking past its versatility and potential to make increasingly
bizarre funding decisions. All working in music are affected, from those starting out in
education and learning their first instrument to those receiving music as therapy and
stimulation for dementia and good mental health. Music, it is clear, should not be treated as
a ‘nice to have’ extra. Rather, it is a galvanizing force bringing good into the lives of