Honorary membership

Honorary membership of the Association is awarded in recognition of substantial and long-standing contributions to musical scholarship. This includes published work and other activities in the field, such as editorships, conference organization, interaction with performing institutions and public bodies, and work for scholarly associations including the RMA itself.

It is expected that honorary membership will remain a rare honour and it is unlikely that more than one name will be put forward in any one year.

Honorary members of the RMA

• Jeffrey Dean (appointed 2023)
• Kofi Agawu (appointed 2019)
• Joshua Rifkin (appointed 2019)
• Susan Youens (appointed 2019)
• Tim Carter (appointed 2017)
• Arnold Whittall (appointed 2014)
• Margaret Bent (appointed 2012)
• David Fallows (appointed 2012)
• Robert Pascall (appointed 2008/9)
• Hugh Macdonald (appointed 2007/8)
• Ludwig Finscher

Making a Nomination

Nominations may be made by any member, and nominees do not have to be resident in the UK. We strongly encourage nominations that reflect the full diversity of music studies and practice research.

Nominators should write to the to the Executive Officer exec@rma.ac.uk; please include “Honorary Membership Submission” in the subject line. Please supply a page describing the nominee’s contribution according to the criteria described above, and furnishing references to published scholarship and relevant biography (or a link to a webpage, encyclopedia article or other source where such information may appear).

Nominations and supporting documents should be received by 1 May. The Awards Committee’s recommendation will be submitted to the following meeting of Council, and, if approved, the award will be announced at the Annual General Meeting, held each September during the RMA’s Annual Conference.