The Royal Philharmonic Society (RPS) Awards took place yesterday evening for the first time at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester. The event was hosted by BBC Radio 3 presenters Elizabeth Alker and Linton Stephens, with the trophies presented by RPS chairman John Gilhooly.

Performances were heard from tenor Nicky Spence, Jasdeep Singh Degun and an opening performance of Keiko Abe’s Conversation in the Forest from percussionists representing all of Manchester's professional classical ensembles.

Finnish composer Kaija Saariaho, who died in June 2023, received the Large-Scale Composition Award for her opera Innocence, a piece of music exposing the complexities of trauma surrounding a school shooting. Her son, and the opera’s co-librettist, Aleksi Barrière collected the trophy in her name.

Jasdeep Singh Degun became the first sitar player to receive an RPS Award, winning the Instrumentalist category, paying tribute to his 'musical parents' and early influences in Indian classical music in his speech. François-Xavier Roth received the Conductor Award for his work with the London Symphony Orchestra and his own ensemble Les Siècles.

The power of community music making was also highlighted, with the 2024 Gamechanger Award received by music charity Irene Taylor Trust and artistic director Sara Lee for its work using music for rehabilitation and healing in the criminal justice system. Derbyshire’s Derwent Brass received the Inspiration Award for non-professional groups and the Impact Award was presented to disabled musician Clare Johnston and Drake Music Scotland.

Further achievements in opera, voice and storytelling were celebrated, with composers Illia Razumeiko and Roman Grigoriv travelling to Manchester from Ukraine to receive the Opera and Music Theatre Award for their opera Chornobyldorf, created in collaboration with Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival.

Tenor Nicky Spence, recent Opera Now cover star, received the Singer Award for a year of performances and recordings covering a huge breadth of repertoire from Noel Coward to Wagner. The Young Artist Award was presented to mezzo soprano Lotte Betts-Dean, who was unable to attend due to a debut at the Bayerische Staatsoper in Weinberg's Die Passagierin. 

The recently-restored BBC Singers were recognised, receiving the Ensemble Award with the Storytelling Award going to writer Leah Broad for her book Quartet, telling the stories of four 20th century women composers.

CEO of the Royal Philharmonic Society, James Murphy said in his speech: 'This is what classical music does. It brings people together. It lifts our spirit, it raises our pulse, it gives us hope. It brings out the best in us. From the news stories and social media coverage of the last year, you wouldn’t always know that ... Tonight, we, united music-makers and music-lovers, take the front foot. We get to tell the story and set the tempo. And what stories we have to tell.'

The 13 prizes awarded:

• Chamber-scale composition – Laurence Osborn for her work TOMB! Performed by GBSR Duo and 12 Ensemble
• Conductor – Les Siècles founder François-Xavier Roth
• Ensemble – BBC Singers
• Impact – Clare Johnston and Drake Music Scotland for their collaboration Call of the Mountains, a creative exchange with Kazakhstan’s Eegeru ensemble
• Inspiration – Derwent Brass, which recently celebrated its 30th anniversary
• Instrumentalist – sitarist Jasdeep Singh Degun
• Large-scale composition – Awarded posthumously to Finnish composer Kaija Saariaho for her final opera Innocence which explores the aftermath of a school shooting in Helsinki
• Opera and music theatre – Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival for its opera Chornobyldorf co-composed and directed by Ukraine’s Illia Razumeiko and Roman Grygoriv before the Russian invasion. 
• Series and events – Manchester Classical; a weekend event which took place in June 2023
• Singer – Tenor Nicky Spence
• Storytelling – Leah Broad’s first book Quartet which focuses on the stories of underappreciated composers Doreen Carwithen, Dorothy Howell, Ethel Smyth and Rebecca Clarke
• Young Artist – mezzo soprano Lotte Betts-Dean

In partnership with BBC Radio 3, the awards will be broadcast in an RPS Awards programme at 7:30pm on 6 March. A film of the RPS Awards presentation will be available to watch on the RPS website from 12 March.