Making an impact at the RPS Awards
On Wednesday night, the world of classical music celebrated some of the best musical talent in the UK at the Royal Philharmonic Society Awards.
The annual awards ceremony aims to highlight the work of inspirational individuals, groups and initiatives through 13 award categories, ranging from the Young Artist Award to the Large-Scale Composition Award.
Organisations funded by Arts Council England were among the well-deserved nominees and winners. Manchester Collective, previous recipients of National Lottery Project Grants and a new member of our National Portfolio, took home the Ensemble Award for their transformative performances attracting new audiences from Birkenhead to the BBC Proms. Congratulations also go to Manchester Camerata, a long-standing Arts Council National Portfolio Organisation, who won the Storytelling Award for their powerful film Untold – Keith, which tells the story of someone living with dementia who finds comfort and company through music. And we’re delighted that Martyn Brabbins, Music Director of the English National Opera, was celebrated by receiving the Conductor Award.
A real highlight of the evening was the Impact Award, where all three shortlisted nominees were Arts Council-funded. The Impact Award is for an outstanding initiative, individual or organisation that practically engaged and set out to have a lasting impact on the lives of people who may not otherwise experience classical music, demonstrating the positive, empowering role creativity and culture can play.
Congratulations to The Multi-Story Orchestra, another new NPO joiner, who won the award for their moving production The Endz. Combining classical orchestra with rap, song and spoken word, this hugely moving piece was created by a group of young people from Peckham who – following the death one of their friends – wanted to expose the reality of gang culture and express their feelings through music.
Below, all the nominees for the Impact Award share what inspired their work and what it meant to be nominated…
The Multi-Story Orchestra
Multi-Story Music brings together vocalists and musicians to create performances that celebrate and involve local communities. The Endz was first performed in a car park in Peckham.
Kerry Skidmore, Artistic Associate of Multi-Story Orchestra, says:
“Working on The Endz has been the most incredible privilege. From its origins in a classroom in Harris Academy Peckham to an RPS Award nomination, The Endz, and all of the creatives at Multi-Story Orchestra that have worked on the piece, have been on a musical journey of self discovery. The Endz is an authentically raw piece, made in Peckham and dedicated to our Malcolm, who tragically lost his life in 2018. It is an example of what happens when creativity and emotion combine to defy boundaries of style or genre. When you listen to young people and let them lead the creative process you produce something quite magical. It was really important to our young creatives that the piece provide an insight into their lives and reach as wide an audience as possible with their messages of anti-violence, stereotypes about young people and the detrimental effects government policies and institutional bias have on them. To be nominated in the Impact category of the RPS awards 2023 means we have gone some way to achieving that. The Endz was the catalyst to form our first young creatives cohort and to make youth-voice the core of everything we do at Multi-Story Orchestra. Thanks to our Arts Council funding through our newly granted NPO status, we are able to continue this work and provide a platform for young people to be creative and produce amazing quality work in our own innovative way.”
Awards for Young Musicians
Awards for Young Musicians, is one of our Music Hub Support Organisations, and another new joiner to our 2023-26 National Portfolio. The organisation was nominated for the Impact Award for its work helping talented young people from low income families overcome financial and social barriers to fulfil their musical potential.
Hester Cockcroft, Chief Executive of Awards for Young Musicians, says:
“We’re delighted to be shortlisted for the RPS Impact Award - because impact is what AYM is all about. Musical talent is everywhere but opportunity isn’t: we’re here to change this through our national work in supporting both young musicians from low-income families and the music education sector. It’s an honour to receive this recognition, particularly in our 25th anniversary year.”
Watch the video below to hear primary teacher and music specialist Helen Mead talk about the impact of Awards for Young Musicians’ Identifying Musical Talent and Potential training, which is offered for free to Music Education Hubs, funded by the Arts Council through our Hub Support Programme.
Second Movement
In collaboration with Tourettes Action and composer Michael Betteridge, opera company Second Movement created Opera-tic with an Arts Council National Lottery Project Grant. Co-created online by 15 adults with Tourette Syndrome during the pandemic, Opera-tic explores what it means to live with Tourette Syndrome, aiming to raise awareness and shine a light on the condition and those who live with and alongside it.
Andy Harmer, Opera-tic Collaborator, says:
“Being nominated is such an honour and a testament to everyone involved that we made it this far.”
Michael Betteridge, Opera-tic Composer, says:
“Opera-tic will always have a very special place in my heart as a composer. Not only was it a creative dream to work with an inspiring, passionate, and diverse range of people from across the country in a time when creativity was forced online, but it opened my eyes to a range of lived experiences of Tourette Syndrome that I had never come across before. The collaborators on the project - all with very different experiences of opera - were a joy to work with, sharing their ideas and stories with such fervour and energy. Being shortlisted for an RPS Award was very unexpected, but I am so pleased that that not only will this digital opera reach a wider audience, but the lives of people who have faced barriers to the arts (and the wider world) are being celebrated in a way that hasn’t been seen in this medium before.”
We’re delighted to have supported these amazing projects as they help to fulfil our Let’s Create ambition of ensuring everyone in England has access to high-quality cultural experiences and where the creativity of each of us is valued and given the chance to flourish.
Congratulations again to everyone involved!