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The Royal Philharmonic Society has awarded its 2024 RPS Gold Medal to British composer, conductor and pianist Thomas Ad\u00e8s<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p> Conductor Simon Rattle<\/a><\/strong>, himself a recipient of the RPS Gold Medal in 2000, presented the medal live onstage on 5 September<\/a><\/strong>, at the\u00a0BBC Proms<\/a><\/strong>. The presentation followed the UK premiere of Ad\u00e8s\u2019 new orchestral work\u00a0Aquifer<\/em>\u00a0conducted by Rattle with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra.<\/p> On presenting the medal to Ad\u00e8s, Rattle said:\u00a0<\/p> \u2018A little piece of history tonight… The Royal Philharmonic Society was formed in 1813 to look after and support classical music and classical musicians. It\u2019s a charity open to everybody, including you. It has been at the centre of our musical life for all these years. In 1870 the organisation introduced the RPS Gold Medal. A few recipients: Brahms<\/a><\/strong>, Elgar<\/a><\/strong>, Henry Wood<\/a><\/strong>, Sibelius<\/a><\/strong>, Stravinsky,<\/a><\/strong> Boulez<\/a><\/strong>, Ligeti<\/a><\/strong>, Jessye Norman<\/a><\/strong>, Daniel Barenboim<\/a><\/strong>, Mitsuko Uchida. An extraordinary group of people. <\/p> ‘And tonight there\u2019s a new name in this august company: Thomas Ad\u00e8s. The words outrageously gifted might have been invented for Tom. Because not only is he a wonderful composer, but a staggering pianist and a magnificent and generous conductor. We wait for each new piece. We never know what it\u2019s going to be, but it always seems to be effortlessly connected to the past. And it always is at the same time new and totally Tom. I suspect that\u2019s the definition of a great composer.\u2019<\/p> First presented in 1871, the RPS Gold Medal is awarded for outstanding musicianship to the finest musicians of any nationality. It bears the image of Beethoven<\/a><\/strong>, to celebrate the close relationship between the composer and the Society which commissioned his Ninth Symphony<\/a><\/strong>. <\/p> Recipients are chosen annually by the Board and Council of the RPS, and approved by RPS Members. Among prior recipients are Brahms, Elgar, Henry Wood, Sibelius, Stravinsky, Britten<\/a><\/strong>, Bernstein<\/a><\/strong>, Messiaen<\/a><\/strong>, Boulez, Ligeti, Kathleen Ferrier<\/a><\/strong>, and more recently Jessye Norman, Martha Argerich<\/a><\/strong>, Daniel Barenboim, Janet Baker, Peter Maxwell Davies<\/a><\/strong>, Mariss Jansons<\/a><\/strong>, Mitsuko Uchida<\/a><\/strong>, and John Williams<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>A presentation by Simon Rattle<\/h2>
The history of the RPS Gold Medal<\/h2>