Last Updated on March 13, 2026
For the Love of Music
Despite my background in music (I have a degree in music and many years of singing in choirs and playing piano and violin as an amateur), an invitation to the Royal Philharmonic Society awards left me slightly confused. I’d heard of the awards, of course, but thought that the Royal Philharmonic Society was intrinsically connected with the orchestra of the same name. There IS a connection, but not the one I’d assumed. The Royal Philharmonic Society, founded in London in 1813, is one of the oldest music societies in the world. Among other things, it’s famous for commissioning Beethoven’s 9th Symphony. It’s a charitable organisation that quietly sits at the heart of the British classical music world, with projects that include helping young players fund professional-standard instruments, empowering female conductors, and supporting commissions for composers. And, the connection with the eponymous orchestra is that it was created partly to revive the Society’s concert series after World War II.
The Royal Philharmonic Society awards are a joyful celebration of their work, and last night’s event at the Queen Elizabeth Hall was a vibrant affair, with an audience made up of Royal Philharmonic Society members, shortlisted artists, press and the general public. With hosts Georgia Mann and Petroc Trelawney guiding us through the evening, we settled in to hear about the amazing award winners.
Young Artist Award winner Matilda Lloyd is a virtuosic trumpet player with an effervescent personality and a mission to engage young people in everything she does. Europe’s youngest female brass professor at Trinity Laban, we had the privilege of hearing her perform later in the evening. It must have been a tricky decision with the other finalists (Ethan Loch and Hugh Cutting) both brilliant performers in their own right.
I’m off to buy Elizabeth Alker’s ‘Everything We Do Is Music’. Winner of the Storytelling award, she appeared on stage, charming us all with her insights and clearly overwhelmed at winning her category.
There was more exuberance from the ‘Uprising’ team – a community opera by Jonathan Dove performed last year at Glyndebourne, and winners of the Opera and Music Theatre award. I’m kicking myself for not making the effort to travel there from London. Mark Anthony Turnage’s Festen was pipped at the post in this category, but he won ‘Large Scale Composition’ and made a touching appearance, thanking his librettist Lee Hall and dedicating the award to his mother.
Louise Alder, who appeared on stage with her two-week-old baby, won the best singer award. We saw her last year at Glyndebourne, an enchanting Countess in The Marriage of Figaro, but I was intrigued by the snippet we saw of Helen Grimes’ new song cycle about modern motherhood.
There were many more great winners – the Southbank Centre’s own Multitudes series (which runs from x to y in 2026), John Wilson, for the best Conductor, The Royal Scottish National Orchestra for the best Ensemble, Peter Moore, for best instrumentalist, and Claudia Molitor for best chamber-scale composition. And, more amateur musicians – Orchestras for All were winners of the ‘Impact’ award, and the Kirkaldy Orchestral Society won the ‘Inspiration’ award – a suitable way to celebrate their 150th anniversary.
This year’s ‘Gamechanger’ Royal Philharmonic Society award went to Jacob Collier. Singer, multi-instrumentalist, composer, arranger, and producer, Jacob pushes the boundaries online and in the flesh, demystifying music and involving everyone he touches. A young British artist who can engage and inspire through the generations and across the world. Truly a Gamechanger.
What all of the RPS winners had in common was a passion for communicating the power and magic of classical music to a wider audience. Surely that’s the only way forward for a genre that so needs to be part of the present and future. If you want to hear for yourself, BBC Radio 3 will broadcast last night’s show at 7.30 pm tonight (13th March). The broadcast will be available on BBC Sounds for a further month, and you can also watch a film of the event on the RPS website for one month from Monday, 19th March.
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