The RPS Composers’ gathering has quietly become annual highlight: new faces, bold ideas, and lots of warmth in an atmosphere that is decidedly more speed-date than ceremony.
The Royal Philharmonic Society Composers gathering has over the years maintained a low-key charm whilst securing itself a must-attend event in the calendar. This year’s event was held in South London attended by a ebouillant bunch of enthusiastic creatives.
Thoroughly Good has contributed to the annual programme in the past with a presentation or two about digital content – a pleasure, never a chore. The gathering is always a great opportunity to see new faces and get accustomed with new names that you know, hope and wonder might crop up in the future — an opportunity that might in the future offer a chance to say to oneself or casually at some kind of other gathering: I remember meeting them at that RPS thing in 2025.
There feels right now a growing sense of excitement about present day composers and their output. If we’re looking for new ways to advocate for the genre beyond simply condescending potential audience members with dumbed down justifications for listening to established repertoire, then leaning into what new voices are saying musically must surely be the starting point. In this way, events like the RPS Composers scheme offers a similar sense of discover for new classical music just as the Booker Prize does for literary fiction. A lineup of new music premieres from the composers listed below scheduled up and down the country offers a tantalising opportunity for discovery for the curious minded soul eager to find something new, different and thought provoking.
This year’s line up includes a former teacher who doesn’t demonstrate cynicism or lethargy, someone whose penned a punk operetta, a BBC Performing Arts Fund now dedicated to exploring under represented members in society in the electronic form, and a composer who trekked from the northern climes of Scotland on publication to pitch her wares with a warm smile and a glint in her eye (amongst others).
Amongst the partners present: CBSO, RLPO, Marian Consort and Hermes Experiment. Rarely has there been an event so open and friendly, courage boldly worn on the lapel by all.
The composers completing this years scheme are:
Amble Skuse
Arthur Keegan
Cameron Biles-Liddell
Derri Joseph Lewis
Emily Hazrati
Lisa Robertson
Sasha Scott
Zygmund de Somogyi
Derri Joseph Lewis, Lisa Robertson, Sasha Scott and Zygmund de Somogyi have already had the premieres of their RPS commissions with Tim Horton at Presteigne Festival, The Hermes Experiment at Portsmouth Guildhall and Dublin International Chamber Music Festival, 12 Ensemble at the Norfolk and Norwich Festival and LSO St Luke’s, and Temporal Harmonies, Inc at Wigmore Hall and Seigla Festival in Iceland.
Cameron Biles-Liddell’s premiere with Ensemble 10:10 takes place in Liverpool next week, and Arthur Keegan’s new work for Hebrides Ensemble will be performed in Cumnock, Ayrshire, on 1 February 2026. Still to come are new works by Emily Hazrati for The Marian Consort, and Amble Skuse for The Carice Singers at Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival.
