Female Artist of the Year Alison Balsom Sound The Trumpet (Warner Classics) Joyce DiDonato Drama Queens (Erato) Nicola Benedetti The Silver Violin (Decca) Male Artist of the Year Daniel Barenboim Beethoven For All, Elgar/Carter Cello Concertos (Decca) Jonas Kaufmann Kaufmann Wagner (Decca) Lang Lang The Chopin Album (Sony Classical) MasterCard’s Breakthrough Artist of the Year Amy Dickson Dusk & Dawn (Sony Classical) Alisa Weilerstein Elgar: Cello Concerto; Carter: Cello Concerto (Decca) Joseph Calleja Be My Love – A Tribute to Mario Lanza (Decca) Tine Thing Helseth Tine (Warner Classics) Composer Arvo Pärt Adam’s Lament (ECM New Series) Hans Zimmer The Dark Knight Rises OST, Man Of Steel OST (Sony Classical) Ludovico Einaudi In A Time Lapse (Decca) Critics’ award Boris Giltburg Prokofiev: War Sonatas Orchid Classics Hallé Orchestra, Choir & Youth Choir/ Elder Elgar: The Apostles (Hallé) John Wilson Orchestra/ Wilson Rodgers & Hammerstein at the Movies (Warner Classics) Jonas Kaufmann Wagner (Decca) Outstanding Contribution to Music (in association with Raymond Weil) Hans Zimmer Sony/Warner/Universal Classic FM Album of the Year (in association with MasterCard) Andrea Bocelli Opera (Decca) Andre Rieu Magic of The Movies (Decca) Friar Alessandro Voice From Assisi (Decca) John Rutter/Catrin Finch Blessing (Deutsche Grammophon) Joseph Calleja Be My Love – A Tribute To Mario Lanza (Decca) Katherine Jenkins This Is Christmas (Warner Music Entertainment) Lang Lang The Chopin Album (Sony Classical) Ludovico Einaudi In A Time Lapse (Decca) Nicola Benedetti The Silver Violin (Decca) Richard Clayderman Romantique (Decca) Pianist Lang Lang, who has already confirmed that he will be performing at the Classic BRITs ceremony itself, is nominated in both the Male Artist and Classic FM Album of the Year categories. Nicola Benedetti is nominated for both the Female Artist of the Year and Classic FM Album of the Year awards, the first of which she has won twice before. It’s the 10th time she has been nominated for a Classic BRIT.