Page 57 - RPS Awards 2023 Coverage Book

The most distinctive musical voice of the night, however, was that of composer Ben
Nobuto. Having won the Chamber-Scale Composition Award for the innovative SERENITY
2.0, and somehow achieving an authentic and wholly original balance between Frank
Ocean and Caroline Shaw in the process, he joined Ensemble Award winners Manchester
Collective for a performance of Danish folk song Old Reinlender. This was cleverly
approached from the first movement of Bach’s Violin Concerto in A minor, the join between
the two almost imperceptible but negotiated in joyful, songful music.

Sadly no members of Arts Council England were present to witness any of these musical
tonics – it is to be hoped they will listen when the awards are aired on BBC Radio 3 on
Monday 6 March. You should listen too, for you will find classical music, in spite of all its
challenges, is swimming strongly against the tide.

You can watch the Royal Philharmonic Society Awards on the RPS website within the next
week – while BBC Radio 3 will broadcast the ceremony, presented by Petroc Trelawny and
Hannah French, on Monday 6 March. Click here to listen