Royal Philharmonic Society Awards make a triumphant return to Wigmore Hall

The 2021 Royal Philharmonic Society Awards were held this week at London’s Wigmore Hall, with an enthusiastic and star-studded audience making clear their excitement and relief at being able to come together in person to inspire and celebrate each other again after last year’s digital ceremony.

Hosted by BBC Radio 3 presenter Katie Derham and RPS chief executive James Murphy, and with trophies presented by RPS chairman John Gilhooly, the evening began with a captivating performance by Abel Selaocoe. His interpretation of traditional South African song Ka Bohaleng was received with rapturous applause and cheering from the balcony.

The hosts welcomed attendees with the same tone of mixed triumph and relief which would characterise the evening. After a moment of remembrance for those friends lost to the pandemic including Nelson Freire, whose death had been announced that morning, host James Murphy praised the UK music scene for their participation throughout the pandemic and as the country begins to recover, saying: ‘now, again musicians have showed us the role they can play in fortifying the nation.’

The first award of the evening was the Ensemble award, awarded to Scotland’s Dunedin Consort for their work performing and promoting historic music. The sheer amount of extra work and dedication it took to continue performing during the pandemic was evident in the acceptance speech of music director John Butt. He explained that Jo Buckley, the consort’s chief executive, had prepared 3 different versions of each Dunedin Consort programme to ensure performances could go ahead under any circumstances.

Next came the Chamber-Scale Composition Award, awarded to Macclesfield composer Laura Bowler for her piece Wicked Problems. The piece delivered a stark a warning about climate change, a topic Bowler has tackled before in her Distance composition, premiered at this year’s Aberdeen Sound Festival, which was designed to be performed remotely without the need for travel.

This year’s Storytelling Award for an entity furthering the understanding of classical music in a lateral medium went to Kadiatu Kanneh-Mason for her book House of Music discussing the joys and challenges of raising young musicians. Described by Derham as ‘Mum of the year’, Kanneh-Mason talked defiantly about the barriers she faced when trying to get her book published, being told repeatedly by marketing teams that ‘black people do not play classical music’, but described her book as being ‘at its heart a book about gratitude’.

Mezzo soprano Jennifer Johnston received the RPS Singer Award, as well as additional praise for her work keeping audiences and musicians digitally engaged over lockdown. When describing her close relationship with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic as their Artist in Residence, she noted that, while it’s usually difficult be a ‘prophet in your own land’, as a Liverpudlian she’s ‘been able to do exactly that’ within this partnership.

The Series and Events Award went to the Chorus of Royal Northern Sinfonia for The World How Wide, a powerful digital presentation of Vaughan Williams’ version of Tallis’ Fantasia featuring isolated amateur voices across Northumberland. This was followed by the Conductor Award, won by Ryan Bancroft and prefaced with a moment of remembrance for Bernard Haitink, the Dutch conductor who passed away last month. He had won this award in 1999 and so, Murphy explained, RPS chose to ‘present this year’s award in tribute to such an extraordinary musical luminary’.

Composer Dani Howard received the Large-Scale Composition Award for her Trombone Concerto, commissioned by the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic and informed by her close relationship with the orchestra. Howard particularly thanked trombonist Peter Moore who ‘helped shape this work’ and expressed her hope that the piece will help build the instrument’s visibility and repertoire.

We were then treated to a spritely performance of Weber’s Rondo Ongaresse by Ashby Mayes, a benefactor of the RPS’ charitable work. James Murphy explained that Mayes, as the ‘son of a single disabled parent’ would have struggled to buy a bassoon had the RPS not stepped in. He is now being funded by the RPS to complete a post-graduate degree in Germany and is making great contributions to the music industry as revealed by Nicola Benedetti in her acceptance speech for the society’s Instrumentalist Award. She explained his contribution as a video editor for the ‘feast of inspiring online content’ she delivered during lockdown ‘for thousands of young musicians worldwide.’ This second performance of the night again prompted an immense outpouring of support from the audience.

Following this, the Opera & Music Theatre Award was received by newly formed virtual opera company Vopera for their digital production of Ravel’s L’enfant et les sortilèges. Lauded in their introduction video as having ‘generated welcome employment for a raft of housebound talent’ they described in their acceptance speech their journey from ‘a bank balance of zero’ to being ‘able to pay everybody a fee for their work’. Similarly, The Hermes Experiment, when awarded the Young Artist Award, also described the challenges of learning to fundraise throughout the pandemic.

The English National Opera won the Impact Award for their ENO Breathe initiative which ‘vividly illustrates music’s worth in social prescribing’, aiming to help patients address their breathing and anxiety. Jenny Mollica, who helped develop the programme, accepted the award, illustrating the breadth of the project’s success when thanking the 50 NHS trusts which were now referring patients, particularly those with long-Covid, to the program.

John Gilhooley then presented the Gamechanger Award to art historian and gallerist Hannah Barry for Bold Tendencies, multi-storey car park in Peckham which she turned into an exciting arts destination. Accepting the award, Barry observed that ‘from the concrete concert hall to the Wigmore hall is one hell of a ride.’ The initiative was introduced as ‘a blueprint we might take to communities nationwide’ and in presenting the award Gilhooley further praised the initiative as ‘blazing proof of how classical music can thrive when we let it out to play’.

The final award of the evening was the Inspiration Award, presented in recognition of the UK’s non-professional musicians or organisations. Host Katie Derham commented on the role played by such groups, describing amateur music as ‘essential to what makes Britain philharmonic’. For the first time in RPS history the winner of this Award was chosen by the public, with Hilary Campbell and Bristol Choral Society (pictured) emerging as winners out of a total of 4,667 public votes received. Campbell particularly thanked RPS for ‘shining a light on the indefatigable and passionate and prominent amateur music scene’ which had suffered during the pandemic.

This year’s awards were undeniable proof that, although the music industry has suffered throughout the Covid pandemic with it’s many lockdowns, rule changes and restrictions, it has nevertheless survived and, with the help of the many initiatives and individuals recognised by RPS this week, has the potential to thrive.