The 60-year-old, whose immense success in the world of West End musicals has overshadowed his work as a classical music composer, will be awarded the gong at the Classical Brit Awards next month.

Lord Lloyd Webber receives an award for Outstanding Achievement in Music almost 25 years since he composed his most famous classical work, Requiem Mass.

Written following the death of his father and inspired by the tragic story of a Cambodian orphan, it won a Grammy for Best Contemporary Classical Composition in 1986 following its premiere in New York.

The composer's other classical compositions include Variations (1977), a cello piece the Phantom of the Opera composer wrote for his brother Julian.

Lord Lloyd Webber said: "I am absolutely thrilled that my music is being recognised at this year's Classical Brit Awards and delighted to be receiving the award for an Outstanding Achievement In Music."

Nominees announced include Alfie Boe, 34, who was working in a garage when his tenor voice was discovered more than a decade ago by one of his customers.

Boe, who went on to have classical training, win a recording contract, and release several albums following his discovery, is up for Male Artist of the Year and Album of the Year.

The tenor, who has never won a Classical Brit before, is the only artist to receive more than one nomination in this year's awards.

In the Album of the Year category, nominees include Blake, the band that formed on social networking site Facebook, All Angels, the Fron Male Voice Choir, New Zealander Hayley Westenra, the Choirboys - the singing trio discovered in 2005 in their choirs - and the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards for the military band's latest album Spirit of the Glen.

Source: PA