Conductor Sakari Oramo and violinist Christian Tetzlaff have been shortlisted for this year’s Royal Philharmonic Society Music Awards.

Sakari Oramo has been named in the Conductor of the Year category. Chief Conductor of the BBC Symphony Orchestra, 2015 saw Oramo conduct three Proms including the First Night of the Proms, all-Sibelius programmes, and a Nielsen cycle which ​“turned out to be one of the highlights of the [current] London season” (The Guardian). 

Sakari has also been nominated twice in the Orchestra category of the BBC Music Magazine awards — once for CPE Bach’s Hamburg Symphonies with the Ostrobothnian Chamber Orchestra and secondly for Nielsen’s Symphonies Nos.1 and 3 with the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra.

Christian Tetzlaff has been shortlisted for the Instrumentalist of the Year Award. Hailed by Tim Ashley (The Times) for his ​“unforgettable performance of Beethoven’s Violin Concerto” with Daniel Harding and the London Symphony Orchestra, and given five star reviews for his performances of Mozart’s Violin Concerto No.3 with Gewandhausorchester Leipzig under Riccardo Chailly, Tetzlaff gave a number of highly-acclaimed UK performances in 2015. A champion of contemporary music, he gave an ​“Evocative” performance (The Financial Times) of Lindberg’s Violin Concerto No.1 with the London Philharmonic Orchestra at the Royal Festival Hall, having previously played it at Manchester’s Bridgewater Hall with the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra. He finished the year on a high, receiving ​“six curtain calls for the quality and bravura” of his Sibelius Violin Concerto with frequent collaborator and Music Director of Royal Northern Sinfonia Orchestra, Lars Vogt. 

The RPS Music Awards, presented in association with BBC Radio 3, are the highest recognition for live classical music and musical excellence in the UK. Awards in 13 categories are chosen by eminent independent juries from the music profession and are unique in the breadth of musical achievement they span – from performers, composers and inspirational arts organisations to learning, participation and engagement. The list of winners since 1989 reads as a roll call of the finest living musicians. This year’s awards are for achievement in the UK during 2015. 

The winners will be announced at the RPS Music Awards ceremony on 10 May, with a special programme broadcast on BBC Radio 3 on 11 May at 7.30pm.