Two British-Indian musicians selected for RPS Awards

Utkarsh Classes Last Updated 03-02-2024

Two British-Indian musicians selected for RPS Awards

Award and Honour 4 min read

Two British Indian musicians have been selected for the prestigious Royal Philharmonic Society (RPS) Awards for the year 2024. The two Indians selected are Alpesh Chauhan OBE and Jasdeep Singh Degun.

The RPS awards will be presented at the Royal Northern College of Music, Manchester on 5 March 2024. In Britain, this prestigious award is given for classical music.

How many artists have been selected for the RPS Awards?

A total of 19 artists and composers have been selected for the RPS Awards this year.
The 19 shortlisted artists and composers represent a global majority of 42 percent. These include cellist Ayanna Witter-Johnson, Birmingham Opera Company music director Alpesh Chauhan and sitar player Jasdeep Singh Degun.

In which category were the Indians nominated?

Alpesh Chauhan OBE, music director of Birmingham Opera Company, has been nominated in the conductor category.
While sitarist and composer Jasdeep Singh Degun has been nominated in the Instrumentalist Award and Large-Scale Composition Award categories.

Other awards received by Jasdeep Singh Degun:

Leeds-born musician Jasdeep Singh Degun thanked his teacher Ustad Dharambir Singh and supporters for supporting him in his musical journey.
Degun has been given a 2022 Critics Circle Music Award for "Outstanding Achievement in Opera".

Degun's other awards and recognitions include:

Songlines Best Newcomer Award
Asian Achievers Award
Asian Media Award
Ivor Novello Classical Award for Best Stage Work

Degun has performed at prestigious venues around the world:

Degun has performed at prestigious venues around the world, including:
- British royal family
- The British Prime Minister attends the Royal Commonwealth Service 2022 at Buckingham Palace
- Amphitheater and Westminster Abbey in Doha.

Study at Music Research Academy, Kolkata:

Degun underwent intensive training in India in 2010 under Ustad Shujaat Khan. Studied under the guidance of Pandit Partho Chatterjee and Pandit Ajoy Chakraborty in early 2016. Also studied as an international scholar at the prestigious Music Research Academy, Kolkata.

About Alpesh Chauhan:

The debut album by Birmingham-born Chauhan, which featured orchestral works by Tchaikovsky. was released in June 2023 on Chandos Records with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra.
He entered the Royal Northern College of Music in 2008 to study cello before undertaking the prestigious Master Conducting course.
Following his musical debut in 2015, he was appointed Principal Conductor of the Filarmonica Arturo Toscanini in Parma. He performed many of the great symphonic repertoire, including the complete cycle of Brahms's symphonies.
In 2022, Chauhan was named 'Migliore Direttore' by the Italian National Association of Music Critics for concerts given in Italy in 2021. Received an OBE (Order of the British Empire) for services to the arts in the Queen's New Year Honors in January 2022.