Wise Music Classical joins in congratulating the recipients of the 2025 RPS Thea Musgrave Fund. Acclaimed Scottish-American composer Thea Musgrave and her husband, conductor Peter Mark, have joined forces with the Royal Philharmonic Society to provide nearly £50,000 in grants to composers and performers across the UK.
The RPS Thea Musgrave Composition Grants support composers writing a new work for an establishes solo performer, duo, or chamber ensemble. The recipients are:
David Gorton for flautist Carla Rees
Emma-Ruth Richards writing for soprano Jennifer France
Robert Laidlow writing for baritone Peter Brathwaite
Samantha Fernando writing for viol consort Fretwork
Stuart MacRae writing for mezzo soprano Beth Taylor
The RPS Thea Musgrave Performance Grants help performers, ensembles, festivals and venues to put Thea’s music at the heart of their UK programming, encouraging them to delve into a body of work spanning seven decades. The recipients are:
Elgar Festival
Worcester, Saturday 23 May – Sunday 31 May 2026
Thea Musgrave to be featured as Visiting Composer, with three concerts by the English Symphony Orchestra and recitals by world-renowned guest artists
Hebrides Ensemble
Wigmore Hall, January 2027
A three-concert day focused on the music of Thea Musgrave as well as a new album featuring Thea’s work alongside "musical birthday cards" by other Scottish composers in the lead-up to her centenary in 2028
London Symphony Orchestra
Barbican, 11 December 2025 and Bristol Beacon, 13 December 2025
One of the UK’s leading symphony orchestras performs Thea Musgrave’s Phoenix Rising in two concerts with their Chief Conductor Sir Antonio Pappano.
Marsyas Trio with mezzo soprano Lotte Betts-Dean
Leeds University, 29 April 2026
"Thea Musgrave Day" will take place at Leeds University, engaging a new generation of performers with Thea’s works, with additional concerts to follow between 2026 and 2028.
The RPS, in collaboration with Thea and Peter, hope to fund the grants anew in 2026.
