This final round follows a record number of applications and awards funding to four organisations - Brighton Philharmonic Orchestra, Britten Sinfonia, English National Opera and Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. The composers championed through these grant-winning projects are Avril Coleridge-Taylor, Doreen Carwithen, Kaija Saariaho and Nadezhda Rimskaya-Korsakova.

The announcement also comes shortly after the Sirens Fund's founder, Diana Ambache, was appointed MBE in the 2026 King´s Birthday Honours List for services to music. The honour recognises her pioneering work bringing historical women composers to public attention through her research, performances and recordings, the Women of Note website, and her generous support of musicians and organisations through the Sirens Fund, established with proceeds from her late father's discovery of a Guarneri violin.

Judith Webster, ABO CEO said: “This final round of Sirens grants is both a celebration and a reminder of how much has changed over the past ten years. Thanks to Diana Ambache's vision and sustained commitment, many composers who were once rarely performed are now becoming part of the repertoire. While the fund concludes this year, we hope its legacy will continue to inspire orchestras to seek out overlooked voices and programme music that reflects the full richness of our musical heritage.”

Diana Ambache MBE said: “Over the past ten years, it has been wonderful to see the growing interest in the music of historical women composers. We know that Sirens has helped make this repertoire a lasting and meaningful part of concert programmes, and I look forward to hearing many more of these remarkable works.”

Brighton Philharmonic Orchestra - A Sussex Landscape by Avril Coleridge-Taylor Brighton Philharmonic Orchestra will perform Avril Coleridge-Taylor's A Sussex Landscape on 23 January 2027 at Brighton Dome Concert Hall. Written in 1940, the work evokes the beauty of the South Downs while reflecting the uncertainty of the early years of the Second World War. Inspired by the composer's home in Buxted, this richly atmospheric tone poem captures both the tranquillity of the Sussex countryside and the anxieties of wartime Britain.

Britten Sinfonia - Piano Concerto by Doreen Carwithen Britten Sinfonia will give two performances of Doreen Carwithen’s 1948 Piano Concerto in St Andrew’s Hall, in Norwich and Smith Square Hall, London, in May 2027. Clare Hammond will perform as soloist in a programme celebrating music of the late 1940s, alongside works by William Walton and Richard Strauss. Carwithen's concerto is a vibrant and compelling work that continues to gain the recognition it deserves.

English National Opera - Adriana Mater by Kaija Saariaho English National Opera will present Kaija Saariaho's Adriana Mater at the London Coliseum between 28 November and 12 December 2026. A rarely staged opera by one of the world's leading contemporary composers, Adriana Mater explores resilience, motherhood and moral choice through the story of a woman raising a child conceived through violence in a country at war. Directed by Annilese Miskimmon and conducted by Joana Carneiro, the production reflects ENO's continuing commitment to championing women composers in opera.

Royal Philharmonic Orchestra - The Bewitched Place by Nadezhda Rimskaya-Korsakova The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and Music Director Vasily Petrenko will perform The Bewitched Place by Nadezhda Rimskaya-Korsakova on 20 January 2027 at Cadogan Hall, London. This colourful symphonic tableau, inspired by a short story by Nikolai Gogol, tells the tale of a farmer whose dancing summons supernatural forces with unexpected consequences. Believed to be receiving its first-ever public performance, the work was discovered by Petrenko and will also be presented on the Orchestra's European tour in early 2027, introducing audiences in Austria, Germany and Switzerland to this remarkable rediscovery.

About Sirens The ABO Trust received a generous gift from Diana Ambache in 2016 to establish the Sirens Fund, with the aim of raising awareness and appreciation of music written by historical women composers from around the world. Over ten years, the fund has supported concerts, tours, recordings and education projects that have brought neglected repertoire to new audiences and encouraged orchestras to diversify their programming. Since its launch, Sirens has helped fund performances of works by composers including Germaine Tailleferre, Cécile Chaminade, Dorothy Howell, Maria Antonia Walpurgis, Florence Price, Louise Farrenc, Dame Ethel Smyth, Dame Elizabeth Maconchy, Marianna Martines, Grażyna Bacewicz and many others. Throughout the life of the scheme, orchestras have been encouraged to use Diana Ambache's Women of Note website (www.womenofnote.co.uk) as a key resource for discovering orchestral works by historical women composers. The tenth round marks the conclusion of the Sirens Fund after a decade of supporting orchestras in bringing this important repertoire to audiences across the UK and beyond.