Leon Bosch wins Royal Philharmonic Society Award

Double bassist, conductor, presenter and Trinity Laban professor Leon Bosch has won the Storytelling Award at the 2025 Royal Philharmonic Society (RPS) Awards, the annual ceremony celebrating the best of live classical music-making in the UK, which was held in Birmingham on 6 March. The RPS Awards were hosted by BBC Radio 3 presenters Jess Gillam and Tom McKinney with trophies presented by RPS Chair Angela Dixon.

Bosch won for his BBC Radio 3 programme Classical Africa, which tells the often overlooked history of music and ideas from the continent. The bassist also performed at the ceremony, playing Grant McLachlan’s Abdi, with pianist María Linares Molero.

RPS Chair Angela Dixon said: ‘The RPS Awards have a story to tell about classical music-making in the UK today that is both inspiring and humbling… We’re here this evening to recognise excellence in classical music in all of its forms and to celebrate the impact our sector is having on people in all walks of life.’ The RPS is a charity that has been celebrating and supporting classical music in the UK since 1813.

BBC Radio 3 will broadcast a special RPS Awards programme at 7.30pm on Friday 7 March, available for a further month on BBC Sounds, giving audiences the opportunity to hear more music from this year’s winners. A film of the RPS Awards presentation will be freely available to watch for one month on the RPS website from Monday 17 March. You can read the full list of winners here.

More about Leon Bosch:

Leon Bosch conducts chamber and symphonic ensembles around the world and is one of the few double bass players to direct concertos from the instrument.

Having worked with the finest conductors for 30 years as a member of groups such as the Academy of St Martin in the Fields, Philharmonia and Hallé, he learnt the repertoire and conductor’s craft from inside the orchestra, and finally made the transition to the podium in 2015, when he left Academy of St Martin in the Fields and went to study in St Petersburg with Alexander Polishchuk. Since then he has conducted orchestras across the UK, Europe, India, South Africa and Mozambique.

During his playing career, he performed concertos around the world and served as a guest with ensembles such as the Lindsays, Brodsky Quartet and Zukerman Chamber Players.

Leon is committed to rediscovering neglected music, as well as expanding and diversifying the double bass repertoire, and has recorded 16 CDs of wide-ranging programmes, with more in planning.

He is professor of double bass at Trinity Laban and gives masterclasses in the US, Europe, South Africa and the Far East. He has also served as double bass coach for youth orchestras including the I, Culture Orchestra, National Youth String Orchestra, Miagi Orchestra and Buskaid. He has contributed to programmes on BBC Radio 3 and 4 and written for The Strad and Classical Music magazines.