The awards will take place at the Royal Albert Hall on Thursday 13 May – and will include a performance from one of the most loved sopranos of the past century, Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, as she is honoured with the Lifetime Achievement in Music award.

And the nominees are…

2010 has already been an incredible year for classical music, as demonstrated by the success of violinist AndrE Rieu, whose performances of Strauss Waltzes have earned him the title of the fifth biggest selling artist of any genre in the UK this year. To mark his outstanding contribution to music, AndrE will make his debut appearance at the awards ceremony in May.

British conductor and pianist Antonio Pappano receives two nominations for his work as conductor of the Accademia di Santa Cecilia Orchestra and Chorus on two different albums: Puccini’s Madama Butterfly and Verdi’s Messa da Requiem. As Male Artist of The Year nominee, he joins four time Classical BRIT winner Bryn Terfel and ‘honorary scouser’ and Russian conductor Vasily Petrenko. Antonio Pappano’s second nomination is the Critics’ Award, an award he won previously in 2006. Chosen by a panel of critics from the national media, Antonio Pappano is recognised jointly for Verdi: Messa da Requiem which also features Rolando Villazon, Anja Harteros, Sonja Ganassi, Rene Pape and Roma Orchestra dell’ Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia. The critics also singled out Isabelle Faust & Alexander Melnikov for Beethoven Senatas and Scottish pianist Steven Osborne with Rachmaninoff Preludes.

Following his Classical BRIT win for Composer of the Year last year, Howard Goodall receives two nominations in 2010 for his Enchanted Voices album. With one of the ten biggest selling albums of the past year he is nominated for the NS&I Album of the Year, and once again returns in the Composer Of The Year category. Italian pianist Ludovico Einaudi’s Nightbook and British composer, pianist and conductor Thomas AdËs’ The Tempest complete the Composer of the Year category.

Featuring three previous winners of Female Artist of the Year, the 2010 Female Artist of the Year will be one of the most hotly contested categories on the night. Romanian soprano Angela Gheorghiu (winner 2001), Russian soprano Anna Netrebko (winner 2007 and 2008) and American conductor and violinist Marin Allsop (winner 2005) all receive nominations for Female Artist of the Year.

Three big blockbuster movies will battle it out for Soundtrack of the Year. Star Trek by Michael Giacchino, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button by Alexandre Desplat and Thomas Newman’s Revolutionary Road complete the nominations.

As previously announced, the NS&I Album of the Year which is compiled from the 10 biggest selling classical albums of 2009 will be voted for by listeners of Classic FM and readers of Classic FM Magazine and readers will be able to vote for one of the 10 nominated artists including Music From The Vatican – Alma Mater ft the voice of Pope Benedict XVI, Together – Blake, Camilla Kerslake – Camilla Kerslake, Heroes – Coldstream Guards Band, Faryl – Faryl Smith, Voices of the Valley – Memory Lane – Fron Male Voice Choir, Enchanted Voices – Howard Goodall’s Enchanted Voices, Band of Brothers – Only Men Aloud, O Fortuna – Rhydian and Harmony – The Priests.

The Classical BRIT Awards will be hosted for the third year running by Myleene Klass and takes place at the Royal Albert Hall on 13 May.

The Priests shot to fame in late 2008 with the release of their debut album ‘The Priests’ which became the fastest selling classical album of all time, and outsold releases from the likes of Madonna and Beyonce.

The Priests performed “Ave Maria”, backed by a boys choir at the awards ceremony.

Jose Carreras also addressed rumours over his reported retirement, watch the video to find out what he said….

Hayley also told us how important events like The Classical BRITS  are in boosting media attention on classical music, and that she feels this is giving classical music a “wider, younger audience”.

Faryl tells us how she is still getting used to running the gauntlet on the red carpet, but we think she did a brilliant job, being particularly polite about all the nominees saying “I don’t know how anyone can choose between them all..”.

For all the news from last night’s The Classical BRIT Awards stay tuned to t5m.

Dressed in an eye-catching Union Jack emblazoned jacket, Jonathan is truly flying the flag for British classical music as well as making a sartorial statement to match his well-dressed female counterparts, saying “why should the girls have all the fun? I don’t want to miss out on all the fun with dressing up”.

And we think he looks fantastic! For all the news from last night’s The Classical BRITs Awards stay tuned to t5m.

In their typically self-deprecating style, the Royal Scots Dragoon, who are produced by Jon Cohen, told us that they were “so surprised to even be nominated for the NS&I album of the year…we didn’t think we’d have a chance”. They also told us how much winning would boost the morale of their entire regiment – many of whom are in incredibly dangerous conflict zones.

For all the news from last night’s The Classical BRIT Awards, stay tuned to t5m.

Alison tells us how varied the trumpet is as an instrument and how excited she is to bring her music to a younger audience – an ambition shared by many of the guests at this year’s The Classical BRIT Awards.

For all the news from this year’s The Classical BRIT Awards stay tuned to t5m.

Speaking to t5m exclusively, David told us how much he enjoys classical music – and spoke of both his urgency and desire to share it with a young generation. And what better way to bring classical music to everyone than with a glittering award ceremony held in London’s Royal Albert Hall?

Stay tuned to t5m for all the news from this year’s Classical BRITs 2009