And the winners are…

This year’s Royal Philharmonic Society Awards recipients

That winning feeling:

(above) violist Timothy Ridout; (right) soprano Anna Dennis Chamber-scale

Composition

Ben Nobuto

SERENITY 2.0

A commission for Manchester

Collective, SERENITY 2.0 by British/japanese composer

Nobuto explores the ‘feelings of dread alongside joy’ evoked by physical and virtual spaces such as clubs or Instagram.

Conductor

Martyn Brabbins

Music director of English National Opera and conductor of an acclaimed Vaughan Williams symphony cycle with the BBC Symphony Orchestra: 2021-22 was a busy and fruitful year for Martyn Brabbins.

Impact

The Multi-story Orchestra The Endz

A collaboration with teenagers from Peckham, TMSO’S The Endz uses rap, song and spoken word to tell the story of two friends torn apart by gang violence.

Inspiration

Torbay Symphony Orchestra

The Devon ensemble’s busy schedule includes chamber and orchestral concerts (sometimes of specially commissioned works) as well as an impressive commitment to music education in schools.

Instrumentalist Abel Selaocoe, cello

The South African cellist, vocalist and composer made great waves in 2021-22 with his superb debut album Where is Home and willingness to take risks and cross genres.

Large-scale Composition

Gavin Higgins Concerto Grosso for Brass Band and Orchestra

Premiered by the Tredegar Town Band at the 2022 BBC Proms, Higgins’s large-scale orchestral work is, in its composer’s words, a ‘love letter’ to the brass band world.

Opera and Music Theatre

Theatre of Sound/opera Ventures

Bluebeard’s Castle

This poignant reimagining of Bartók’s opera, reset in modern suburbia, replaces the original’s secrets and deceptions with a happy marriage clouded by dementia.

Series and Events Leeds Piano Trail

In this innovative sculpture trail-cum-street concert series, several sculptures created from recycled pianos were placed around the city alongside artist- and community-decorated playable pianos.

Singer

Anna Dennis, soprano

Described by The Times as a ‘delectable soprano and a serene, ever-sentient presence’, Anna Dennis is especially noted for her work in both modern and Baroque repertoire.

Storytelling Manchester Camerata

Untold: Keith This moving and uplifting short film follows Keith, who lives with young-onset dementia. We learn how the condition affects Keith’s everyday life – and how music can provide light in difficult times.

Young Artist

Timothy Ridout, viola

The young violist enjoyed a packed and successful 2021-22, including recordings of Prokofiev, Schumann, Berlioz and Mendelssohn, plus live performances with the BBC Symphony Orchestra, Frankfurt Radio Symphony and others.