Maria Dueñas wins Young Artist of the Year and Sir Simon Rattle makes history at Gramophone Awards

16 October 2025, 13:00

The awards also included a lifetime achievement honour for Sir Thomas Allen.

The 48th annual Gramophone Classical Music Awards took place last night, and a host of prizes and accolades were given out to some of the world’s top musicians.

Conductor Sir Simon Rattle made history by becoming the first artist to ever win Artist of the Year twice, having first claimed the title in 1993. The award recognised his range of work in his roles with the London Symphony Orchestra, Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra and the Czech Philharmonic and the several acclaimed recordings spanning the baroque to contemporary repertoire.

In a video acceptance speech, Sir Simon said: “I was 10 years old when I started spending my pocket money on Gramophone magazine… so for me this is an extraordinary honour.”

Other artists and musicians also sent their congratulations via video message to the awards, including Dame Imogen Cooper, Barbara Hannigan, Peter Hoare and Thomas Quasthoff.

Composer John Adams also sent a video tribute that said: “To have known him, to have worked with him, to have heard him do my music with the intensity and passion that he’s given it – it’s been one of the great pleasures of my life”.

Read more: When Simon Rattle raised the roof of a brand-new Symphony Hall with unforgettable Mahler

Among other award winners was Spanish violinist María Dueñas, who received two Awards, including Young Artist of the Year, sponsored by Classic FM. She also won the Instrumental recording prize for her album of Paganini’s 24 Caprices.

Dueñas also treated the ceremony to a performance from the album and said in her acceptance speech: “It’s a great pleasure and honour… thank you for believing in the power of youth and curiosity in the arts, thank you so much for this recognition”.

Dueñas was one of Classic FM’s 2023 Rising Stars, and took home both the first prize and audience prize at the 2021 Menuhin Violin Competition aged just 18. She was also both dedicatee and world premiere performer of Gabriela Ortiz’s Altar de Cuerda in 2022, at the Walt Disney Concert Hall with Gustavo Dudamel and the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra. She has gone on to be signed exclusively by Deutsche Grammophon.

Read more: 18-year-old Spanish violinist María Dueñas takes top honours at the Menuhin Competition 2021

Martin Cullingford, Editor and Publisher of Gramophone magazine, said: “This year’s award-winning albums celebrate a wonderful breadth of the incredible music-making that has defined classical recording over the past year, spanning eras, styles – and generations too.

“Some of today’s most famous artists feature among our winners, but so too do many of the most brilliant and imaginative musicians of the younger generation, something that leaves me hugely excited about the future of our art form.

“From benchmark new versions of some of the most revered repertoire in the catalogue to music of the 21st century, anyone who devotes time to exploring our list of winning albums and artists will be richly rewarded.”