The Royal Philharmonic Society is to mark its 200th anniversary with several awards for international music makers, in association with the British Council. Five individuals from four continents will receive Royal Philharmonic Society Honorary Membership at this year’s RPS Music Awards, which traditionally celebrate live classical music in the UK.

The five Honorary Members are recognised for bringing music to ‘the heart of some of the most challenged communities in the world’, for supporting young musicians and for making ‘a profound difference to diversity in music making’.

Awards go to: Armand Diangienda, a former airline pilot who founded a symphony orchestra in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo; Dr Ahmad Sarmast, founder of Afghanistan’s first national music school in Kabul; British viola player Rosemary Nalden, founder of Buskaid and director the stringed instrument school in Diepkloof, Soweto; former Leeds Piano Competition winner Ricardo Castro, who established a youth music programme in Bahià, Brazil; and Aaron P Dworkin, the founder of the Sphinx Organization, which gives opportunities to aspiring Black and Latino musicians in the USA.

The RPS Music Awards take place on May 14, 2013. For full details visit the Royal Philharmonic Society website.