Oxford Lieder is delighted to announce that it has won the prestigious Royal Philharmonic Society Music Award in the category of ‘Chamber Music & Song’ for The Schubert Project.

As well as receiving this award they were shortlisted in the ‘Concert Series & Festivals’ category. The Schubert Project, which was the 2014 Oxford Lieder Festival, was the first time Schubert’s complete songs have ever been presented in a single festival, alongside a wide range of other cultural events; ‘bringing Schubert’s Vienna to Oxford.’

At the awards dinner held last night at The Brewery in the City of London, Sholto Kynoch, Artistic Director of Oxford Lieder, expressed his delight that The Schubert Project should be honoured in this way, as well as his excitement for the future of Oxford Lieder and his optimism for the current resurgence of song, both at the Oxford Lieder Festival and beyond.

The awards of the Royal Philharmonic Society, which is over 200 years old, celebrate the highest possible standards of excellence in all aspects of musicianship: performance, composition, inspirational arts organisations, audience engagement, and learning and participation. Oxford Lieder is thrilled to be recognised as a leading contributor to musical excellence in the UK.

Oxford Lieder exists to promote and celebrate song. The centrepiece of each year is the Oxford Lieder Festival, an extravaganza of song now well established as one of the leading festivals of its kind in Europe. Founded in 2002, the Festival brings many of the world’s most sought-after artists to Oxford, as well as showcasing an exciting new generation of young talent (including soprano Mary Bevan, winner of the RPS Award for Young Artists, who sang at last night’s ceremony accompanied by Sholto Kynoch).

The Fourteenth Oxford Lieder Festival – Singing Words: Poets & their Songs – will run 16-31 October 2015 and will once again bring a glittering array of musicians to Oxford in a diverse and enticing programme. It will focus on poets and the words that shape songs, with many programmes devoted to specific poets. A lunchtime concert series will include the complete songs of Gabriel Fauré. Artists taking part include Sarah Connolly, Christoph Prégardien, Katarina Karnéus, Matthew Rose, Sophie Karthäuser, Elizabeth Watts, Neal Davies, Roderick Williams, Anna Stéphany, Wolfgang Holzmair, Eugene Asti, Julius Drake, Graham Johnson, Roger Vignoles, Imogen Cooper and many others.