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The Royal Philharmonic Society held its
awards ceremony at the Royal Northern College of Music on Tuesday night (5
March) – the first time they’ve ever done them out of London. And here are my
awards for the highlights of the show:
l The ceremony began with Conversation in the Forest by Keiko
Abe, performed by “The Sound of Manchester” – Delia Stevens and Le Yu (aka
Aurora Percussion Duo), with Andrea Vogler, David Hext, Harriet Kwong and Paul
Patrick.
l Most entertaining acceptance speech of the night was from tenor
Nicky Spence (winner, Singer category), pointing out that he’d been up for the
award more than once before and “I was beginning to think I was Pippa Middleton”
and telling the tale of how his mother (also present) and he stayed in a youth
hostel when he first auditioned for the Guildhall School – sharing a room with
bunk beds and, as both were “under-ambitious in terms of BMI”, it became a test
of faith for the party on the underneath.
Nicky Spence and his husband, pianist Dylan Perez, also entertained
with a rendition of Noel Coward’s Don’t put your daughter on the stage, Mrs
Worthington, which opened the second half of the night (it all finally ran to
45 minutes behind schedule).
l Jasdeep Singh Degun – the
first sitar player ever to win an RPS Award – was both winner of the
Instrumentalist category and composer/leader in the final item: Veer,
with Harkiret Bahra, tabla, and RNCM musicians Leda Mileto, Chris Karwacinski,
Beth Willett and Clara Hope Simpson (aka the Aestus Quartet) and Joana Moura, double
bass.
l The Opera and Music Theatre award was won by Huddersfield
Contemporary Music Festival’s presentation of Chornobyldorf, which brought the whole Ukrainian cast and
company of the opera to Yorkshire for its UK premiere. Ukrainian composers Illia Razumeiko and
Roman Grigoriv travelled from Kyiv to receive the award.
l And the most eloquent
acceptance speech was from Jack Capstaff, music director of Derwent Brass, the Derbyshire
brass band which won the “Inspiration” category for non-professional ensembles –
the only award decided by public vote (all nominations for it this year being
for those based somewhere north of Watford). Bearing in mind the band world’s
intense competitiveness, he said, with their foibles – “and there are many” – bands
had always been good at creating access to music making for grass-roots
communities, and it was down to a groundswell of support that Derwent had won
the vote.
Other details:
l “Manchester Classical”,
the weekend mini-festival last summer that brought together the Hallé, BBC
Philharmonic, Manchester Camerata, Manchester Collective, RNCM and others, was
presented with the Series and Events Award, having brought thousands of
citizens to the Bridgewater Hall. Accepting the award, Hallé boss David Butcher
said the city was unique in its collaboration between different organisations,
and “when you work in partnership, brilliant things happen”.
l The Gamechanger
Award went to the Irene Taylor Trust and its artistic director Sara
Lee for using music to help people affected by the criminal justice system
and in marginalised areas of society.
l The Impact
Award was presented to disabled musician Clare Johnston and Drake
Music Scotland for Call of the Mountains, a collaboration with
Kazakhstan’s Eegeru ensemble, which culminated in a collective performance in
Edinburgh.
l Finnish composer Kaija
Saariaho, an icon of contemporary music who died in 2023, was given the Large-Scale
Composition Award for her acclaimed opera Innocence: a portrait
of lives changed by a high school shooting (it was staged by the Royal Opera).
Her son, Aleksi Barrière, who was the opera’s co-librettist, collected the
trophy.
l The BBC Singers were
recognised for the quality, style and imagination they bring to a range of
endeavour, receiving the Ensemble Award.
l François-Xavier Roth received
the Conductor Award for his work with the London Symphony Orchestra
and his own ensemble, Les Siècles; the Chamber-Scale Composition
Award went to Laurence Osborn for TOMB! premiered by
the GBSR Duo and 12 Ensemble at the Norfolk and Norwich Festival; the Storytelling
Award went to Leah Broad for Quartet, a book about four female
composers; and the Young Artist Award was presented to mezzo
soprano Lotte Betts-Dean.
PS:
Having
once been part of a partly similar awards shindig myself, it was like a
reminder of old times to see how these things are put together. You invite all
your nominees and their friends to come to swell the crowd, but you keep the
winners’ names confidential, of course … and then you worry that some of the
chosen winners have not committed to being there.
With
performers, one trick is to invite them to do a turn in the ceremony – which on
the whole they will accept and seriously commit to (see above for examples).
But sometimes, when it’s a clear turn-down because they have engagements
elsewhere, you simply have to tell them they’ve won, swear them to secrecy and
get them to film an acceptance speech in advance, feigning surprise, etc., etc.
When
it’s the backroom and admin people (or movers and shakers, as they like to
think of themselves), sometimes they, or their underlings, will say: “I could
come, but I’m very, very busy and it would help to be tipped off, just
privately, if being there in person will really be worth it” – in other words, “Have
I won, because I’d love to make a speech in front of my peers and admirers, but
otherwise it’s not worth it?” That’s the tricky one. I must admit to having
stooped that low with those guys, sometimes.
