Sir Peter Maxwell Davies Awarded Royal Philharmonic Society’s Top Accolade

Britain’s Royal Philharmonic Society has today announced British composer and conductor Sir Peter Maxwell Davies as their annual Gold Medal recipient.

'Peter Maxwell Davies has redefined what it means to be a composer and inspired new generations of musicians,' Society Chairman, John Gilhooly has said.

'I am absolutely delighted and couldn’t be more honoured to receive the Royal Philharmonic Society Gold Medal … that’s the one I wanted!’ the 81 year old Maestro has said.

Maxwell Davies is the 102nd recipient of the accolade since the medal was founded in 1870 – in celebration of the centenary of the birth of Beethoven.

Previous Gold Medallist include: Vaughan Williams, Richard Strsuss, Janet Baker, Daniel Barenboim, Martha Argerich, Charles Boulez, Bernard Haitink, Nikolaus Harnoncourt, György Kurtag, Sir Simon Rattle, András Schiff, Mitsuko Uchida and Antonio Pappano.