Photography by Mark Allen
Celebrating an incredible win for inclusive music-making across the UK.
Orchestras for All (OFA) is proud to announce that it has won the RPS Impact Award at the Royal Philharmonic Society Awards!
Held at the Southbank Centre’s Queen Elizabeth Hall on the 12th March, these awards - billed by The Sunday Times as 'the biggest night in UK classical music’ – celebrate classical music’s power and resonance nationwide. The night was hosted by BBC Radio 3 presenters Georgia Mann and Petroc Trelawny, with trophies presented by RPS Chair Angela Dixon.
The awards are hosted by The Royal Philharmonic Society, which commissioned Beethoven to write his ninth symphony, and now supports emerging composers, female conductors and creates opportunities for musicians to excel.
The RPS Impact Award is designed to celebrate ‘ventures that prove classical music's life-changing role in society’ - recognising the work we do to ‘empower young people to take charge and have leadership roles in creative opportunities nationwide’.
Photography by Mark Allen
The award was collected by several of our Ambassadors and alums: Cameron, Kit, Isabella, Shannon and Tashan, alongside members of our team and Trustees. As part of the ceremony, Isabella gave an acceptance speech, which we are pleased to share:
“Hello, I hope everyone's having a wonderful night. My name is Isabella and I am an Ambassador for Orchestras for All, however many moons ago I was once a student in this fantastic organisation. I must say it feels so powerful to stand here tonight, once a young girl petrified to join my first ensemble now a proud employee of, in my opinion, one of the greatest music organisations in the nation. The work we do is incredible, it changes lives and I'm proof of that.
There are so many biases against so many groups in the classical music world such as class, disabilities and race. We are here to break down those barriers and prove with the right tools anyone can achieve anything regardless of their life path. We believe holistic learning changes lives, experiences changes lives. Music changes lives.
Photography by Mark Allen
I want to give a massive thanks to RPS for the award tonight and Oxford University Press for sponsoring it. A big thank you to anyone who has supported our journey over the past 15 years. And most of all thank you to the young people for inspiring us every single day.
To close I would like you all to take a moment to open your eyes to all the people you pass by on the street every single day. People with massive hidden potential but miss the opportunity to thrive due to the barriers they are facing. When can we stop talking about making the music sector more accessible and start doing it.
We believe there is always more to be done and we will not stop until music education is available to all.
Thank you.”
