“ There is nothing – anywhere in the world – like the Royal Philharmonic Society. The society has always punched above its weight, and never more so than now...” Classical Music Magazine

PHILHARMONIC Update

© sounding images

RPS Beethoven Bust with Siegfried the horn © Sarah Willis

2013-2014

Celebrating RPS200During 2013 the RPS celebrated its 200th birthday with a programme of 120 events, spanning both sides of the Atlantic, which included concerts, lectures, debates, discussion, fi lms, commissions, awards and exhibitions. Our objectives were to increase support for young musicians, offer creative opportunities for composers, enhance public understanding of our rich musical heritage and to continue debate about key issues facing music today.

“It has been quite a year for the RPS. We have refl ected on a magnifi cent musical

history, celebrated the here and now, and looked to the future by extending our support for young artists and by commissioning more new music than in any year since the Society was founded in 1813…” John Gilhooly OBE, RPS Chairman

The ABO Award - Presented to the RPS for its ”outstanding contribution to orchestral life in the UK” - a fantastic surprise at the start of our Bicentenary year!

International Honorary Membership - Presented to fi ve extraordinary music makers from four continents who are all putting music at the heart of some of the most challenged communities in the world, including Afghanistan and the Democratic Repulic of Congo. Awards were made to Ricardo Castro, Armand Diangienda, Aaron P. Dworkin, Rosemary Nalden and Ahmad Sarmast.

Beethoven ‘Super Sunday’ - A plaque was unveiled on Regent Street marking the location of the 1825 performance of Beethoven’s 9th Symphony, commissioned by the Philharmonic Society. This was followed by a BBC Radio 3 Proms concert celebrating the RPS. The concert, televised on BBC4, featured Beethoven’s 9th performed by the National Youth Orchestra and Choirs of Great Britain, and the world premiere of Frieze by Mark-Anthony Turnage.

RPS in New York - A special RPS birthday concert of Beethoven’s 9th and Turnage’s Frieze performed on 5 nights by the New York Philharmonic at the Lincoln Center; our annual RPS Lecture, given by BBC Radio 3 Controller Roger Wright; exhibitions of Beethoven’s 9th copyist scores and archive materials from both the Royal and New York Philharmonic Societies; plus talks about the commissioning of Beethoven’s 9th and the founding of the Philharmonic Society.

Celebratory concerts throughout the country - Orchestras across the UK performed many great works from the RPS’s 200 years of commissions as part of our Bicentenary celebrations. And reviving the old tradition, the Society’s bust of Beethoven became a much loved fi gure on the platforms of their concert halls, helping to reinforce the connection between the RPS’s history and its commitment to investing in the future.

Highlights from our big birthday year…

2014 RPS Highlights

4 February City Music Society Recital featuring RPS Young Musician, Benjamin Baker (violin)

26 February Annual General Meeting, talk, music and supper.

13 May RPS Music Awards, The Dorchester

15 May U.S. West Coast premiere of RPS Bicentenary commission Frieze by Mark-Anthony Turnage, by the Orange County Youth Symphony Orchestra.

18 May London premiere of Birtwistle’s Songs from the Same Earth (RPS/BPF co-commission), Wigmore Hall. Mark Padmore, tenor and Till Fellner, piano.

30 May World premiere of new work by Composer in the House Huw Watkins. Orchestra of the Swan with former RPS Young Musician, soprano Ruby Hughes, Stratford-Upon-Avon.

31 May RPS Composition Prize winners’ concert, Royal Festival Hall

6 July PULSE screening, Queen Elizabeth Hall, Southbank Centre, London

RPS music/fi lm commission by Dobrinka Tabakova and Ruth Paxton, for the PRS for Music Foundation’s New Music Biennial.

2 August PULSE screening, Glasgow Royal Concert Halls

“ How [the RPS] manages to be so generous defeats me: it receives no public funding and is otherwise reliant on legacies, donations and partnerships.” The Daily Telegraph

© Simon Jay Price

© Marco Borgrevve

ARE YOU PHILHARMONIC? If you want live classical music to have a richer future, please support the RPS. Together we can offer much needed support to music and musicians across the UK. Visit www.royalphilharmonicsociety.org.uk/support for more information. Thank you.

Many young musicians can benefi t from the experience of studying in a different country and the RPS Julius Isserlis Scholarship is almost unique in offering them substantial funding to do this. The very fi rst award in 1980 enabled the now world-renowned pianist, Stephen Hough, to study at Juilliard School in New York. In recent years has helped young students study in locations including Germany, Switzerland and Ghana.

Young MusiciansWe give practical support to Young Musicians where it is really needed. During our Bicentenary we increased funding to young performers and composers to over £81,000.

We gave £30,400 to 21 music students for the purchase of new instruments; £38,000 towards further study abroad, mentoring and professional development; and thanks to funding from the Albert and Eugenie Frost Music Trust we were able to award a signifi cant new prize for string players for the fi rst time.

RPS Young Musicians gave a showcase event for members and supporters in the autumn. Music by Ravel, Schumann, Mendelssohn and Janácek was performed by pianist Richard Uttley (PLMS, with his

mentor Rolf Hind), cellist Ariana Kashefi (Isserlis scholar) and the Wu Quartet (Frost Prize recipient).

Our Bicentenary year saw the premiere of 11 new works from young composers, all RPS commissions. Alongside our annual Composition Prize an additional series of mini-commissions were awarded and performed at key celebratory RPS events throughout the year. This included a fanfare at the unveiling of a commemorative plaque on Regent Street, London, in August.

CASE STUDY: Ariana Kashefi celloRecipient of the RPS Julius Isserlis Scholarship for study abroad, Ariana will study at Hanns Eisler in Berlin.

were awarded and performed at key celebratory RPS events throughout the year. This included a fanfare at the unveiling of a commemorative

“ I am extremely grateful to the RPS for the Julius Isserlis Scholarship. I have lived in London my whole life and even though I have received fantastic tuition here I have always known that for me to reach the next level in my playing I would have to leave my comfort zone and truly experience something different. I have done many courses abroad and it has always been an incredibly inspiring atmosphere to be surrounded by people with completely different work ethics and mentalities. For me anyway I am sure this is the necessary next step in order for me to develop my playing and I am truly grateful to the scholarship for allowing me to do that.”

Robert Peate was awarded the fi rst RPS/Presteigne Festival Alan Horne Memorial commission for a small chamber work in 2012, and his resulting work Pearl was performed by pianist Clare Hammond at the Presteigne Festival, and around the UK, in 2013. We are very pleased to be including this new commission as a regular part of our annual RPS Composition Prize.

New MusicLiving composers played a major part in our Bicentenary celebrations. Commissions from 24 composers from around the world were performed throughout the year, with performances on both sides of the Atlantic. Composers commissioned include Sally Beamish, Charlotte Bray, Kenneth Hesketh, Magnus Lindberg, Jonathan Lloyd, Anna Meredith, Thea Musgrave, Wolfgang Rihm, Paul Ruders, Mark-Anthony Turnage, Hugh Watkins and Judith Weir, plus 11 young composers (winners of the RPS Composition Prize and Mini-Commissions Series). We’re grateful to our 2013 commissioning partners including Britten-Pears

Foundation, BBC Radio 3 and the New York Philharmonic.

Several short RPS fi lms, designed to give greater understanding of the role of the composer in the 21st century, are available via our website. Among the composers featured are David Matthews, Judith Weir and Hugh Wood.

CASE STUDY: Robert Peate composerRPS Composition Prize winner – RPS/Presteigne Festival Alan Horne Memorial commission

Living composers played a major part in our Bicentenary celebrations. Commissions from 24 composers from around the world were performed throughout the year, with performances

Foundation, BBC Radio 3 and the New York Philharmonic.

Several short RPS fi lms, designed to give greater understanding of the role of the composer in the 21st century, are available via our website. Among the composers featured are David Matthews, Judith Weir and Hugh Wood.

Anthony Turnage, Hugh Watkins and Judith Weir, plus 11 young composers

“ Hearing and working with players such as Clare on a new piece is always extremely rewarding, and the experience of writing Pearl, which was partly written in response to Clare’s playing, proved a valuable and memorable experience. The RPS composition prize gives much needed support for young composers as it offers a professional platform for their work and the chance to work with professional instrumentalists, not to mention appreciation from such a respected and established organisation as the RPS. Winning the prize has undoubtedly helped me at an important time in my career, and I am extremely grateful for the support.”

Awards and PrizesThe RPS celebrates the highest possible standards of excellence in all aspects of musicianship. In 2013, the following awards were made…

RPS Honorary Membership – Awarded in recognition of services to music. Recipients Ricardo Castro, Armand Diangienda, Aaron P. Dworkin, Rosemary Nalden and Ahmad Sarmast are fi ve extraordinary music makers who are all putting music at the heart of some of the most challenged communities in the world, including Afghanistan and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

RPS Gold Medal – This is the Society’s highest honour and is awarded for the most outstanding musicianship. Initiated in 1870 and awarded fewer than 100 times, it was presented to musical giants András Schiff and György Kurtág in 2013.

RPS Leslie Boosey Award – Awarded to music publisher Sally Groves, for a lifetime of championing composers and contemporary music.

Salomon Prize – The RPS and the Association of British Orchestras launched this annual award in 2011 to celebrate orchestral players - the unsung heroes that make our orchestras great. The 2013 recipient was CBSO violinist, Catherine Arlidge.

RPS Music Awards – The leading awards for live classical music-making in the UK, awarded in 13 categories to individuals and organisations from the music profession. Winners included Sarah Connolly, Britten Sinfonia, Kirill Karabits, Birmingham Opera Company, the Heath Quartet and Cycle Song - a community opera from Scunthorpe.

“ In the UK the arts are often regarded as an unnecessary luxury. These awards are a salutary reminder of why culture matters.” The Guardian

© Glenn Triest

© Simon Jay Price

Audiences and EngagementThe RPS works to increase understanding, to stimulate debate, and to put music at the centre of cultural life. During the year the RPS was celebrated in a new poem by Carol Ann Duffy, the Poet Laureate.

Public debates and lectures were a major part of our programme in 2013, with topics ranging from the cultural life of 1813; aspects of commissioning; one-to-one tuition in schools; and developing trends in composition. The Society also added its voice to the Incorporated Society of Musicians campaign for the inclusion of creative subjects in the schools EBacc curriculum.

In August a plaque was unveiled to mark the site of the Philharmonic Institution in Regent Street, home of the Society’s concerts in the early 19th century and the location of the UK premiere of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony in 1825.

Exhibitions were held in London (Barbican Music Library, Kings Place, The British Library) and in New York (Morgan Library, Lincoln Centre, Juilliard School) pointing up the Society’s history of commissioning, displaying scores and artefacts from the archive, and exhibiting creative writing written in response to classical music.

Key works from the Society’s history were performed around the country accompanied by pre-concert talks and programme material, giving context and greater understanding to the role the RPS has played in British musical life. The RPS provided funding to Huddersfi eld Contemporary Music Festival to enable the cost of tickets to be reduced for 1,400 young people.

The Society’s history was the focus of a series of radio broadcasts on BBC Radio 3‘s Composer of the Week,

in Classic FM’s Full Works concerts, and also featured in

an academic conference at Cardiff University. Our annual National

Listening Day in partnership with Classic FM celebrated the skill of listening with a day full of facts and tips to get the most out of classical music.

Digital developments: The RPS advised on a new iPad app, made by Touch Press, giving detailed exploration of Beethoven’s 9th Symphony, and on a short fi lm about Britain’s classical music culture for VistBritain.com. The Society’s archive of papers and music (owned by the British Library) was digitised and made available on subscription to libraries and academic institutions and we commissioned a number of short fi lms, exploring different aspects of music.

THANK YOU!

Albert & Eugenie Frost Music Charity, Dame Janet Baker CH DBE, BBC Radio 3, The Boltini Trust, Boosey & Hawkes,

Bowerman Charitable Trust, British Council, Britten Pears Foundation, the late June Buritsky, Peter Bull, Lalita Carlton-Jones, Colin Clark,

Delius Trust, Eric Anker-Peterson Charity, Ernest Cook Trust, the late Tony Fell, Help Musicians UK, Incorporated Society of Musicians,

International Artist Managers’ Association, J Paul Getty Jnr Charitable Trust, Members of the RPS, Mrs A E Bevan Will Trust, The Mercers’ Company,

David and Selina Marks, New York Philharmonic, Orange County Philharmonic, PRS for Music Foundation,

Rosenblatt Recitals, Ruffer LLP, RVW Trust, Penny Steer, Sir Siegmund Warburg’s Voluntary Settlement, Vernon Ellis Foundation,

Yellow Car Charitable Trust and anonymous donors.

Your ongoing support means that we can help more young musicians, commission more new

music, continue to recognise excellent work achieved by others, and help more people to understand and engage with classical music.

We increased our annual income from fundraising by 50% in both 2011/12 and 2012/13, and raised

£250k through our Bicentenary Appeal, which helped fund our work in 2013 and beyond.

Our special thanks go to...

The RPS is a collective of people who have come to music in different ways – professionally, academically, or simply because it’s their greatest pleasure. Together we are creating a future for music.

Please join the RPS from as little as £3 per month:www.royalphilharmonicsociety.org.uk/join

GET IN TOUCHAdministrationExecutive Director Rosemary JohnsonHead of Development Alison PavierDevelopment Manager Laura EmmettProjects Co-ordinator Tom HutchinsonAdministrative Assistant Helen Pearce

Press Consultant Sophie Cohen

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Gold Medal Members Janet BakerDaniel BarenboimPierre BoulezAlfred BrendelPlacido DomingoBernard HaitinkNikolaus HarnoncourtGyörgy KurtágThomas QuasthoffSimon RattleAndrás SchiffMitsuko Uchida

Council of MembersChairman John Gilhooly OBE*†

Honorary Secretary David Long†

Honorary Treasurer Francis Bergin†

Lincoln Abbotts* Nicolas Bell*

Edward Blakeman*†

Jerome BoothIain Burnside*

Mary King*

Colin Lawson* Colin Matthews OBE*†

Louise Mitchell*†

Gillian Moore MBE*†

Chi-chi Nwanoku MBE*

Ian Rosenblatt (Hon Co-Treasurer)†

Arthur Searle (Hon Librarian)Tom Service*

Atholl Swainston-Harrison*

Laurie Watt (Hon Solicitor)

*Professional Member †Trusteewww.royalphilharmonicsociety.org.uk

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