City of Light festival shortlisted for Royal Philharmonic Society Award

The City of Light: Paris 1900-1950 festival collaboration has been shortlisted for a prestigious RPS Music Award. These awards, presented in association with BBC Radio 3, celebrate outstanding achievements in classical music.

Dr Caroline Rae was Series Adviser to the Philharmonia Orchestra’s festival which ran throughout the 2014-2015 season at London’s Royal Festival Hall and at other UK and international venues. The Cardiff strand of the festival’s programming included several concerts from our public concert series, such as the critically-acclaimed piano recital given by Peter Hill and Benjamin Frith.

Programming of the festival included two Debussy world premiere performances, a Lili Boulanger world premiere and two UK premieres of works by Jolivet. Our own students were even included in the festival line-up, with the Cardiff University Symphony Orchestra performing the Debussy premieres at St David's Hall in Cardiff.

Dr Rae also co-ordinated a series of study days and talks at London’s South Bank and in Cardiff, wrote programme notes and articles for the Festival Book, gave talks at the Royal Festival Hall and Royal College of Music, was featured in a live BBC Radio 3 broadcast during the festival, co-convened the City of Light international conference at  London’s Institut français, and contributed to the festival’s many digital resources which include a series of specially made films offering audiences greater insight into the rich diversity of French music from 1900 to 1950.

The winners of the RPS Music Awards will be announced at a ceremony in May. These awards, the highest recognition for live classical music in the UK, are chosen by independent panels consisting of some of the music industry’s most distinguished practitioners. The City of Light festival is nominated in the ‘Concert Series and Festivals’ category.

There is also a Cardiff connection in the ‘Chamber Music and Song’ category. The Carducci Quartet has been shortlisted for the Shostakovich 15 project which saw the Quartet performing complete cycles of Shostakovich Quartets in international venues, including our Concert Hall, to commemorate the 40^th anniversary of Shostakovich’s death.