Pierre Boulez, the French avante garde veteran, was named ‘conductor of the year’ at the Royal Philharmonic Society awards.
He was awarded this prize for his concerts with the London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) and work with young conductors and musicians.
Many individuals and ensembles in contemporary classical music received prizes for innovation and excellence at the annual awards, which took place at the Dorchester Hotel.
Sir Peter Hall gave the keynote speech at the event, at which Dame Janet Baker gave away the awards.
Wolfgang Rhim's Jagden und Formen and György Ligeti's Síppal, Dobbal, Nádihegedüvel, were both winners of contemporary composition awards Multi-national.
The LSO received the award for the ‘Large Ensemble’ along with its regular conductor Sir Colin Davis.
The award for ‘Chamber Ensemble’ went to the Belcea Quartet, a multi-national group with members from Romania, Poland and Scotland.
A new award, created in partnership with Classic FM was for ‘audience development’ and went to Glyndebourne opera house for its touring programmes and opera for young people.
Musicians who received awards were pianist Piotr Anderszewski for his work at the Cheltenham 2000 festival, and singer Gerald Finlay, for his work in Mark Anthony Turnage's opera The Silver Tassie.
Winning the category of ‘concert series’ was Towards The Millennium, a 10-year project inspired by Sir Simon Rattle and the late Michael Vyner.
The Royal Philharmonic Society awards were set up in 1989 to acknowledge outstanding contributions in the field of music within the UK. The Royal Philharmonic Society, founded in 1813, is the second-oldest concert society in the world.
