Wise Music Group is delighted that the shortlist for the 2025 Royal Philharmonic Society Awards features works by Sally Beamish and Hans Abrahamsen. The RPS Awards shine much-needed light on UK classical music's inspirational individuals, groups and initiatives whose music has lifted hearts and minds across the nation.
In the Chamber Scale Composition category, Beamish's Trance has been nominated following its UK premiere at Wigmore Hall on January 30, 2024, performed by Trio Gaspard for whom it was composed. The work takes much inspiration from Haydn's piano trios which it was commissioned to sit alongside. We are grateful to Boosey & Hawkes who are supporting this year's Chamber award.
Abrahamsen's Concerto for Horn and Orchestra has been shortlisted in the Large-Scale Composition category, which this year is sponsored by the Boltini Trust. Written for leading international soloist and Principal Horn of the Berliner Philharmoniker, Stefan Dohr, the work received its UK premiere in the 2024 BBC Proms, with the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra and conductor John Storgårds.
The RPS Awards take place on Thursday March 6 at Royal Birmingham Conservatoire. RPS Awards winners receive a trophy in the form of a silver lyre, designed by former RPS Council member Laurie Watt. Central to the story of Orpheus, the lyre is one of the earliest symbols of music’s power to see us through difficult times, as it certainly has in recent years.
Find out more about the awards and discover the other amazing shortlisted artists here.