ORA Singers launch their Composer Competition

Applications for the 2023 ORA Singers Young Composers' programme Composer Competition are now open!

Published 18th Jan 2023

Applications are now open for the 2023 Young Composers programme, the pioneering mentoring scheme run by the award-winning ensemble, ORA Singers. The trail-blazing choral group, which has commissioned over 50 new works in the last six years, is continuing its ground-breaking education programme into its fourth and biggest year.

Building on the success of previous iterations, which have seen just under 100 state-school students benefit from free compositional support, the 2023 scheme will welcome another 50 students to take part as either Young Composers or Apprentices, and will introduce a new partnership with the Three Choirs Festival for 2023.

10 Young Composers will receive up to 10 hours of one-to-one compositional mentoring with a professional composer. Mentors will develop the skills of each Young Composer, as they help them write a brand new choral work. Young Composers are given the opportunity to have their pieces workshopped, performed, and recorded by ORA Singers, and their Artistic Director, Suzi Digby OBE, and adjudicated by a panel of industry experts (led by Stephen Fry in 2019, Gareth Malone in 2021, and John Rutter in 2022).

Alongside the 10 Young Composers, 40 Apprentices will gain advanced compositional skills through a series of free online, in depth workshops led by professional composers. Designed to fast-track compositional development, the Apprentice scheme will introduce key elements of choral composition and its techniques, and will give an insight into the world of professional composition with opportunities to meet with leading industry figures.

For more information please visit the ORA Singers website.

How to apply to the Young Composers programme?

To apply, please follow the link here where you will need to submit the following by 12pm, Monday 6th February 2023.

For more details on how to apply, visit the ORA Singers website.

Find out more about previous finalists

Hear from some of the 2019 Finalists as they tell us what they got out of the Young Composers' programme!

Listen to your favourite composers on Scala

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