Page 50 - Final_RPS Awards 2020 Media Coverage Book

18 November 2020
Garsington Opera’s The Turn of the Screw wins

2020 Royal Philharmonic Society Award

Claire Seymour

Winners of the 2020 Royal Philharmonic Society Awards have been revealed this
evening in a digital broadcast featuring performances filmed at London’s Wigmore Hall.
A prominent advocate for music this year, RPS Chairman John Gilhooly opened
proceedings with a major speech: ‘Tonight we come together, in a year when our
musical world has been largely immobilised, and, for a while, totally silenced. This could
easily be an eighteen month or longer crisis for live performance. We need our leaders
to maintain an ongoing honest and open dialogue with our industry. We need a faster
solution for getting aid to the self-employed. We need to be clear about the scale of what
will be lost. We need to draw on every resource we can to heal and rebuild our society,
and cannot allow music to be neglected or overlooked in this. As we continue on the
uncertain road ahead, we draw on our inner strength, our resilience, and our solidarity
as a community of musicians and music lovers; as a Philharmonic Community.’

Garsington Opera’s 2019 production of Britten’s opera The Turn of the Screw won the
Opera and Music Theatre section of the 2020 Royal Philharmonic Society Awards
(supported by Sir Simon and Victoria, Lady Robey OBE).

The jury’s citation read: ‘This spine-tingling, stylish production was a class act. It was
perfectly conceived for its setting as twilight fell, and showcased a gratifyingly inclusive
cast and crew, all delivering at the very highest level.’ The award was open to all opera
activities taking place in the 2019 season in the UK and the winner was chosen by a
panel of specialists.