Winners of the 2025 Making Music Awards announced

Making Music is proud to announce announce the winners of the 2025 Making Music Awards.

The Making Music annual awards ceremony celebrates the achievements of the leisure-time music community in the UK. It is an opportunity to recognise the creativity, dedication, and achievements of individuals and groups within this vibrant community who often go unrecognised. The winners were announced at an online ceremony on Wednesday 24 September.

The winners and those shortlisted for each award are as follows:

Best music creator

Winner:

Christopher Hussey — Beware The Mackerel Sky, for The Boundstone Chorus. Beware The Mackerel Sky is a triumph on so many levels, following the tradition of Britten’s 'Noye’s Fludde', bringing community groups to join in exceeding what they can do on their own. Christopher presented his music in a way which is totally accessible and inclusive in this intergenerational work, working with local musicians, historians and group-leaders over a five-year period to bring the final work to fruition in a genuinely collaborative creative project.

Shortlisted:

Ailie Robertson — The Lost Lichts, for Scottish Chamber Choir
Iain James Veitch — Time, for Llandaff Cathedral Choral Society

Watch video of shortlisted nominees

Best music arranger

Winner:

John Turnbull — for various works including Baker Street by Gerry Rafferty, for Huddersfield Wind Band. The panel appreciated what a lot of work goes into these arrangements for wind bands. These arrangements by John were very skilfully done, very classy. Particularly noted — great voicing for saxophones.

Shortlisted:

Jake Alexander — Dreaming of You, for Quaggy Community Choir
Michael Betteridge — Sunday, for The Sunday Boys

The panel for the Best music creator and Best arranger awards included Debbie Wiseman OBE (President of Making Music), Sally Groves MBE (former Creative Director of Schott Music), Tamara Kohler (CEO of Contemporary Music for All) and Will Prideaux (Vice Chair of Making Music and Director of Peterborough Sing!).

Watch video of shortlisted nominees

Best new project

Winner:

The Sunday Boys. 'Voices of the Polar Night' was an immersive choral experience presented — an innovative 30-minute performance which invited audiences to wear blindfolds and be enveloped in total darkness, surrounded by the resonant harmonies of the choir, transporting them to the polar regions where winter banishes the sun and silence echoes through frozen landscapes. This bold queer retelling explored vulnerability, discovery and courage through a distinctly LGBTQ+ lens.

Shortlisted:

Kirkcaldy Orchestral Society
Persona Arts
The Choir with No Name

The panel for Best new project included Rhiannon Harrison (Chair of Making Music), Tricia Zipfel (from member group Vox Holloway, 2024 award winner) and Sarah Derbyshire (Chief Executive of Orchestras Live).

Watch video of shortlisted nominees

Diverse Programming

Winner:

Bradford Festival Choral Society. The group is proud to champion diverse and inclusive programming, with a major highlight being the Northern Premiere of Reena Esmail’s 'This Love Between Us: Prayers for Unity' with the Yorkshire Symphony Orchestra. This performance was the first to feature a full cast of soloists of South Asian heritage — including sitar and tabla — bringing the composer’s vision of intercultural collaboration fully to life. To further advocate for Esmail’s work, they also held a Come and Sing workshop including a live Q&A with the composer and a guest Indian classical singer, who introduced participants to the raga tradition.

Shortlisted:

London Oriana Choir
Scarborough Symphony Orchestra

Best Photo

Winner:

Louise Yates — South Berks Concert Band. Of all the possible photographs of a large concert band, one might expect a traditional setting — yet this image of a Victorian-era bandstand, framed by the shimmering expanse of the sea behind, captures the charm of a community wind band in a truly extraordinary way. Unbeknownst to the band, a passer-by paused to capture this striking image. A few days later, an unexpected email arrived with a photograph taken by Louise Yates, accompanied by the poignant words: 'Thank you for the music'.

Best photo 2025: South Berks Concert Band. Photo credit: Louise Yates

Shortlisted:

Ming Alsop-Lim — The City of Oxford Choir
Andy Brown — Sheffield Philharmonic Orchestra and Hallam Choral Society

Green Award

Winner:

The Phoenix Voices. The Phoenix Voices decided to become an eco-friendly choir in 2019 in response to the climate and ecological emergency, and have continued their environmental committment ever since, including minimising waste at socials, events and rehearsals, car-sharing and taking part in community awareness raising events (eco fairs).

Shortlisted:

Shruti Music School
Robert Coleman (Hard Rain Soloist Ensemble)

President’s Award (public vote)

Winner:

David Perfect — Merton Concert Band. David stepped in as Chair halfway through 2023 and remains in this role to date. He is a driving force in getting things done, and is always willing to help. However, David is losing his sight. Throughout 2024, David religiously took home his music every week, practising for hours every day so that he would be able to play at the following rehearsal — a real testament to his determination. Sadly he had to retire from playing the tuba in December as he could no longer see adequately, even with hours of practice. This was particularly painful for him as he loves to play and sad for the band, who miss both his invaluable playing and humorous presence in rehearsals. Despite stepping back from our rehearsals, David continues to be a dedicated Chair.

Shortlisted:

Jennifer Carson-Fox — Affinity Show Choir
Roger Cooper — Cantorion Menai
Peter Cross and Tony Tripp — Wimbledon Community Chorus
Anne Henderson — Strathaven Choral Society

Lady Hilary Groves Inspiration Award

Winners:

John Forsyth. For the last 25 years, John has been the Music Director of Cleveland Philharmonic Choir, a large mixed-voice choir. An exceptional choral trainer, he moulded their sound, taught vocal technique, expected much and lifted horizons through repertoire and increasingly prestigious venues. John conducted four large-scale concerts at Sage Gateshead, all with other adult and junior choirs invited to collaborate, plus engaging distinguished soloists. John held huge responsibilities in his hands, but no stress was transferred to the performers. His focus was on creating an atmosphere where everyone, from soloists to orchestral players and the youngest children, could produce their best.

Shortlisted:

Jan Modelski
Claire Stacey

The panel for the Lady Hilary Groves Prize included Rhiannon Harrison (Chair of Making Music), Robin Simpson (Creative Lives), Jane Edwardson (founder of Gay Abandon Choir and last year’s winner), Jo Towler (Chief Executive of Music in the Round).

Watch video of shortlisted nominees

Making Music presents numerous awards and prizes to individuals, music groups and organisations in both the leisure-time and professional music sectors. Find out more