Composer John Williams and cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason win coveted awards at 2020 Royal Philharmonic Society Awards
John Williams was celebrated for introducing millions to orchestral music.
Last updated 18th Nov 2020
Composer John Williams has won the coveted Royal Philharmonic Society Gold Medal at the RPS Awards 2020. Williams was celebrated for introducing millions to orchestral music.
The RPS Gold Medal is one of the highest honours in music, recognising outstanding musicianship since 1870.
The society said that the awards celebrated a composer's life and work which had been dedicated to ensuring orchestral music continues to speak to and captivate millions of people worldwide.
Accepting the medal via video, Williams said:
"For any composer to be able devote his or her life entirely to the composition of music is very fortunate indeed. I’d like to thank our musicians of our great orchestras in London and in the United States with whom I’ve worked so happily for so many years."
Director Steven Spielberg, with whom Williams has frequently collaborated, sent his congratulations in a video recorded especially for the RPS, saying:
"John, you have brought the classical idiom to young people all over the world through your scores, and through your classical training and your classical sensibilities. You are in the DNA of the musical culture of today."
Sheku Kanneh-Mason also picked up the Young Artists Award for 2020 at the awards ceremony streamed online from London's Wigmore Hall and included for the first time a new Inspiration Award presented to six of the hundreds of initiatives that have uplifted the nation during lockdown.
Who won the RPS Inspiration Award 2020?
The new Inspiration Award – introduced to celebrate the extraordinary music-making that has uplifted the nation in lockdown – went to six winners: Concerteenies, Diocese of Leeds Schools Singing Programme, The Opera Story, Stay At Home Choir, #UriPosteJukeBox and the Virtual Benedetti Sessions. Over 2,500 nominations were received for The Inspiration Award, made by members of the public, who were asked to share what has moved them musically since March.
Who won the RPS Impact Award 2020?
The Impact Award – awarded for initiatives that have a lasting positive effect on people who may not otherwise experience classical music – went to City of London Sinfonia for ‘Sound Young Minds’ which powerfully defines how classical musicians can play a transformative role in the lives of young people with mental health issues, boosting their confidence, social skills and trust.
Who won the RPS Storytelling Award 2020?
Pianist and writer Stephen Hough's 'Rough Ideas' won the RPS Storytelling Award for 2020. The judging panel commented it was, "a colourful and compelling document of a maverick musical mind. It vividly charts vast terrain, illustrating how a virtuoso musician is not divorced from the rest of the world."
Complete list of RPS Award Winners 2020
Chamber-Scale Composition _Naomi Pinnock - '_I am, I am'
Concert Series and Events Venus Unwrapped - Kings Place
Conductor Dalia Stasevska
Ensemble Scottish Ensemble
Impact Sound Young Minds – City of London Sinfonia
Instrumentalist Lawrence Power viola
Large-Scale Composition Frank Denyer The Fish that Became the Sun (Songs of the Dispossessed)
Opera and Music Theatre The Turn of the Screw Garsington Opera
Singer Natalya Romaniw soprano
Storytelling Rough Ideas Stephen Hough
Young Artists Sheku Kanneh-Mason cello
Inspiration Concerteenies, Diocese of Leeds - Schools Singing Programme, Stay At Home Choir, The Opera Story’s Episodes, #UriPosteJukeBox, and Virtual Benedetti Sessions
Gamechanger Jane Glover
Gold Medal John Williams