Fife's Kirkcaldy Orchestral Society receive the RPS Inspiration Award

Celebrating leisure-time music groups at the Royal Philharmonic Society (RPS) Awards 2026

The Royal Philharmonic Society annual awards were presented in March at the Southbank Centre in London, a prestigious event broadcast on BBC Radio 3 and hosted by presenters Georgia Mann and Petroc Trelawny. The awards recognise star musicians, ensembles, and ventures in classical music, and since 2021 have included the Inspiration Award, presented to non-professional ensembles who work year-round to bring people together through music. Making Music collaborates with RPS on creating a nominations short-list for this award, and the winner is chosen by public vote.

Three out of four nominations this year were for Making Music members:

Bradford Accordion Band – an inclusive, dynamic community band in West Yorkshire which performed during this year’s Bradford City of Culture programme
Cantorion Llandrindod – a dedicated community choir based in rural mid-Wales with distinctive and adventurous programming
Kirkcaldy Orchestral Society – inspiring musicians of all stage and ages in Fife, Scotland, and taking composition projects into secondary schools and HM Prison Glenochil

Also nominated were Shepherd Brass Band, comprised of six bands with over 200 players in Yorkshire, from grassroots to competitive playing. Principal cornet is Deaf musician Sean Chandler who leads a project for d/Deaf children and their families.

A cheer erupted in the auditorium when the winner was announced as Kirkcaldy Orchestral Society, several of whom had travelled to be at the event. Their long-standing Music Director Graeme Wilson paid tribute to the leisure-time music community in his acceptance speech.

'To win this award for Kirkcaldy Orchestral Society is to win for all music-making groups in the country and to recognise the inspirational work undertaken weekly to provide support for and build confidence in individual musicians through the act of coming together in music. Hard to beat as an aim, and for very many, just as important as anything the doctor might prescribe.'

Graeme Wilson, Music Director of Kirkcaldy Orchestral Society

Other winners on the night included trombonist Peter Moore (Instrumentalist) and trumpeter Matilda Lloyd (Young Artist), both artists recognised in part for their collaboration with bands including Buckinghamshire’s Amersham Band, another Making Music member. Composer Jacob Collier, soprano Louise Alder and conductor John Wilson were also awarded and the Impact Award went to Orchestras for All, for empowering young people from disadvantaged backgrounds.

The RPS work hard to recognise non-professional musicians as an essential part of the classical music ecology. At the opening of the event, CEO James Murphy quoted from a letter to The Guardian by Chris Scarlett, a musician from our member Abbeydale Strings in Sheffield, who wrote on the life lessons of classical music: ‘We need each other to play a symphony. We have to listen to each other, follow each other, stay connected…It’s one of the best collaborative and collective experiences we have.’

Watch a recording of the event on the RPS website

Listen to the BBC Radio 3 Broadcast until 12 April on the BBC Sounds website

Banner photo credit: Fife's Kirkcaldy Orchestral Society receive the RPS Inspiration Award, uniquely decided by public vote – pictured with RPS Chair Angela Dixon (photo credit: Mark Allan Photography)