Nominations for this year’s Royal Philharmonic Society Music Awards, which celebrate outstanding achievement in classical music, have been announced. Musicians have been shortlisted in 13 categories ranging from chamber music to creative communication.
Conductors Daniel Barenboim and Riccardo Chailly and the newly-appointed conductor of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Andris Nelsons, are all shortlisted for the RPS Music Award for Conductor for their work with the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, Staatskapelle Berlin and City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra respectively.
2013 was a strong year for singers, with American mezzo Joyce DiDonato, Canadian soprano Barbara Hannigan and German baritone Michael Volle all shortlisted for roles at the Royal Opera House, and English tenor Mark Padmore nominated for his performances at Glyndebourne and Aldeburgh festivals. Meanwhile, two young British sopranos, Sophie Bevan and Ruby Hughes, are shortlisted for the Young Artists award alongside the Russian-German pianist Igor Levit.
The London Contemporary Orchestra and the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra have received double nominations in both the ‘Ensemble’ and ‘Concert Series and Festivals’ categories. The LCO’s Imagined Occasions series saw the six-year-old ensemble stage immersive concerts in locations including a disused tube station, while the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra was singled out for its Tectonics Festival, which celebrates contemporary and experimental music.
The winners of the RPS Awards will be announced at London’s Dorchester Hotel on Tuesday 13 May and revealed in the June issue of BBC Music Magazine, out on 14 May. A special RPS Music Awards programme will be broadcast on BBC Radio 3 on Sunday 18 May.
Christina Kenny