James MacMillan awarded The King’s Medal for Music
HM King Charles III has approved the award of the 2025 King’s Gold Medal for Music to James MacMillan - composer, conductor, and the founder of The Cumnock Tryst annual music festival.
Buckingham Palace announced on 3 March 2026 that HM King Charles III has approved the award of The King’s Gold Medal for Music to composer James MacMillan. The Master of The King’s Music, Errollyn Wallen, commented on the awards of the 2024 and 2025 medals to pianist Kathryn Stott and to James MacMillan, respectively: “Kathryn and Sir James are truly outstanding and deserving winners – celebrated not only for their remarkable musical achievements, but also for the inspiring energy and dedication they bring to nurturing musical talent within their communities.”
Commenting on the announcement, James MacMillan, said: “I am deeply honoured and delighted to be chosen to receive The King’s Gold Medal for Music and so to join a list of fellow musicians that I have greatly admired over the years. A love of music can lead to a lifetime’s commitment and fulfilment both for listeners and performers, (as well as composers, of course). This award will strengthen my resolve to continue the advocacy for music as one of the basic necessities in our lives here in the UK, and is a source of great pride for me.”
About Sir James MacMillan CBE
James MacMillan is a classical composer, conductor and founder of The Cumnock Tryst annual music festival. Catholic faith has been a major influence on MacMillan’s career, with several of his works commissioned and performed for major Catholic occasions in the UK, including a new choral setting performed during the visit of Pope Benedict XVI to the UK in 2010. His works have also featured in Royal and State occasions, including a fanfare for Queen Elizabeth II’s entrance to the reconvened Scottish Parliament in 1999. A composition to mark The King’s seventieth birthday (as Prince of Wales) was premiered at Dumfries House in 2019, and an anthem for the State Funeral of Queen Elizabeth II, Who Shall Separate Us, was performed at Westminster Abbey in 2022.
In 2014, James MacMillan established The Cumnock Tryst annual music festival and year-round programme of music activity to celebrate and broaden access to music in Cumnock and the Doon Valley. The Cumnock Tryst has worked to give artists and musicians a role in the regeneration of Cumnock and to give the local community opportunities to engage with internationally acclaimed performers.
> More information on James MacMillan
About The King’s Medal for Music
The award was first established as The Queen’s Medal for Music in 2005 at the suggestion of former Master of The Queen's Music, the late Sir Peter Maxwell Davies. The Medal is awarded annually to an outstanding individual or group of musicians who have had a major influence on the musical life of the nation. The nominating process for the award is overseen by a committee chaired by the Master of The King’s Music, Errollyn Wallen. Previous winners have included composers Judith Weir, Oliver Knussen and Thea Musgrave, conductors Charles Mackerras and Colin Davis, and musicians Bryn Terfel, Nicola Benedetti and Sarah Connolly.
> Read the Royal Household full press release
Photo: James Bellorini