Page 113 - RPS Awards 2024 Coverage Book

CEO of the Royal Philharmonic Society, James Murphy said in his speech: 'This is
what classical music does. It brings people together. It lifts our spirit, it raises our

pulse, it gives us hope. It brings out the best in us. From the news stories and social
media coverage of the last year, you wouldn’t always know that ... Tonight, we,

united music-makers and music-lovers, take the front foot. We get to tell the story
and set the tempo. And what stories we have to tell.'

The 13 prizes awarded:

• Chamber-scale composition – Laurence Osborn for her work TOMB! Performed by
GBSR Duo and 12 Ensemble
• Conductor – Les Siècles founder François-Xavier Roth
• Ensemble – BBC Singers
• Impact – Clare Johnston and Drake Music Scotland for their collaboration Call of the
Mountains, a creative exchange with Kazakhstan’s Eegeru ensemble
• Inspiration – Derwent Brass, which recently celebrated its 30th anniversary
• Instrumentalist – sitarist Jasdeep Singh Degun
• Large-scale composition – Awarded posthumously to Finnish composer Kaija Saariaho
for her final opera Innocence which explores the aftermath of a school shooting in
Helsinki
• Opera and music theatre – Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival for its
opera Chornobyldorf co-composed and directed by Ukraine’s Illia Razumeiko and Roman
Grygoriv before the Russian invasion.
• Series and events – Manchester Classical; a weekend event which took place in June
2023
• Singer – Tenor Nicky Spence
• Storytelling – Leah Broad’s first book Quartet which focuses on the stories of
underappreciated composers Doreen Carwithen, Dorothy Howell, Ethel Smyth and
Rebecca Clarke
• Young Artist – mezzo soprano Lotte Betts-Dean

In partnership with BBC Radio 3, the awards will be broadcast in an RPS Awards

programme at 7:30pm on 6 March. A film of the RPS Awards presentation will be
available to watch on the RPS website from 12 March.