Page 49 - Final_RPS Awards 2020 Media Coverage Book

lockdown’. The six recipients were Concerteenies (a concert series for babies and toddlers),

the Diocese of Leeds Schools Singing Programme (which brought daily YouTube singing sessions
to 4500 children, and offered 18 weekly online choir rehearsals, in some of the most deprived

areas of Yorkshire), The Opera Story (a series of mini operas), Stay At Home Choir (which
enabled amateurs to sing with, and learn from, guest artists including The Sixteen, The King’s

Singers and Sir James MacMillan), #UriPosteJukeBox (offering 88 days of performances by
violinist Elena Urioste and pianist Tom Poster) and the Virtual Benedetti Sessions from one of the
UK’s leading violinists. The first ever RPS award open to the public, it received 2600 nominations.

Finally, a number of awards went to some of the most prominent artists today, including the

prestigious Gold Medal to composer John Williams, the Gamechanger Award to conductor Jane
Glover for, as the citation put it, ‘carving a path for women conductors, long before it became a

movement’, and the Storytelling Award to pianist (author, artist, composer…) Stephen Hough for
his fascinating, thought-provoking and beautifully written book, Rough Ideas.

The ceremony is available to watch on demand at the Royal Philharmonic Society's website.