Birmingham Opera Company's summer performance of Stockhausen's Mittwoch Aus Licht, which saw a string quartet take to the skies in helicopters over a disused Digbeth factory, has been shortlisted for the two top awards in the world of opera.

Directed by Graham Vick as part of the London 2012 Olympics Cultural Olympiad, the performance has been shortlisted in the Opera and Music Theatre category of the RPS (Royal Philharmonic Society) Awards which take place on May 14.

The City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra is also featured among the RPS Awards nominations with music director Andris Nelsons shortlisted in the Conductor of the Year category, while vocal group Ex Cathedra has been shortlisted in the Ensemble category.

BOC's Mittwoch performance is also among the finalists in the World Premiere category of the first ever International Opera Awards, which will be held at Hilton Park Lane on April 22.

For Mittwoch, Birmingham Opera Company included live performance from a Helicopter String Quartet as well as a flying orchestra, two choirs (London Voices and Birmingham’s Ex Cathedra), a camel and a chorus of 130 local people alongside world class professional singers.

Its six-hour staging on a monumental scale attracted hundreds of international Stockhausen devotees to the city from as far as Japan and the USA. 

BOC's general manager Jean Nicholson said:  “We are delighted that our tackling of one of the grandest and most complex of all operatic challenges for the London 2012 Festival, staged in our signature unconventional style with  contributions from the local community, has reaped such rewards for everyone involved.

"These two shortlisted nominations not only demonstrate the company’s ranking in the highest echelons of opera on a national and international scale but ensure that the name of our home city will continue to be associated with excellence and artistic achievement.”

• The nominations for best World Premiere at the International Opera Awards are:
Babylon (Widmann), Bayerische Staatsoper (Bavarian State Opera, Munich) Germany
Mittwoch aus Licht (Stockhausen), Birmingham Opera Company, UK
Silent Night (Puts), Minnesota Opera, USA
Solaris (Glanert), Bregenz Festival, Austria
Written on Skin (Benjamin), Aix-en-Provence, France

• The full shortlist for all categories at the RPS Awards can be found at rpsmusicawards.com .