Shortlists for Royal Philharmonic Society Music Awards 2015 announced

Conductors Andris Nelsons, John Eliot Gardiner and Vasily Petrenko are among the artists nominated

Published: April 1, 2015 at 9:45 am

The nominations for the annual Royal Philharmonic Society Music Awards, which celebrate live music in the UK, have been revealed. The shortlists cover 13 categories ranging from Instrumentalist to Creative Communication.

Andris Nelsons, John Eliot Gardiner and Vasily Petrenko have all been nominated in the Conductor category, an award supported by BBC Music Magazine. Petrenko’s Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra also puts in an appearance on the Ensemble shortlist, alongside the Arditti Quartet and the London Contemporary Orchestra. And conductor Andrés Orozco-Estrada, who becomes principal guest conductor of the London Philharmonic Orchestra next season, has been nominated alongside the JACK Quartet and soprano Mary Bevan for this year’s Young Artist award.

English National Opera, which has been in the headlines recently thanks to its financial troubles, has been recognised in the Opera and Music Theatre category for its artistic achievements. It is competing with the Royal Opera House’s production of Strauss’s Die Frau ohne Schatten, and John Metcalf’s Dylan-Thomas opera Under Milk Wood.

Tenor Mark Padmore has been nominated for a second year running in the Singer category, in recognition of his standout performances of Birtwistle at Wigmore Hall and JS Bach’s St Matthew Passion at the BBC Proms. Baritone Christian Gerhaher appeared alongside Padmore in that Passion, a performance which has also earned him a nomination. And taking the third spot in this category is Swedish soprano Nina Stemme, for her Isolde at the ROH and Salome at the Proms.

The Arditti Quartet and Oxford Lieder Festival also both receive two nominations, going head-to-head in the Chamber category, as well as appearing in, respectively, the Ensemble and Concert Series and Festivals categories. And as well as its nomination in the Opera category, the Royal Opera House has been shortlisted for its Opera Machine project in Creative Communication.

Six new pieces have been nominated in the categories for Large-Scale and Chamber-Scale Composition, by composers Hans Abrahamsen, Simon Holt, Julian Anderson, John Casken, Graham Fitkin and Liza Lim.

The winners of the RPS Awards will be announced on the evening of Tuesday 5 May and revealed in the June issue of BBC Music Magazine. Radio 3 will broadcast a programme dedicated to the Awards on Monday 11 May at 19.30.

Full details of the shortlists can be found on the Royal Philharmonic Society's website.

Rebecca Franks

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