Young Composer Competition 2008

Information for Composers

Before you set your text to music, here are some top tips:

The voice is not like other instruments.  It cannot pitch a note from nowhere and so some intervals are also difficult to sing.  A general rule is - if you as the composer can't sing it, a singer won't be able to either!

Consider how you can respond to the text effectively. The way words are stressed when spoken should affect how they are stressed when sung. 

Sacred Pieces
You need to consider that most choirs singing church services have lots of rehearal time.  Try and be imaginative without being too challenging! 

Most churches - especially York Minster, where short-listed entries will be performed - have big acoustics with huge echoes. Try and make use of it.

Suggestions for listening: 
Sacred music by Palestrina, Bruckner, Macmillan
Settings of Shakespeare by Vaughan Williams, Matthew Harris, Michael Tippett

You can find suggestions for texts here

Before you send us your composition, remember to check you have included:

2 copies of your piece, both without your name on
1 entry form
1 cheque
midi file on CD-Rom (useful but not essential)

The short-listed compositions will be listed on this website on Monday 4 August, and finalists will be notified by email or telephone. 

Information for Teachers

The competition finals are the first part of an ongoing singing and composing outreach project run by The Ebor Singers. In the autumn term, GCSE and A-level composers will be invited to write carols for the choir's Carol Competition, with the winning entry performed in the choir's sell-out concert in the Chapter House of York Minster. 

During 2008-9, the choir will taking the short-listed entries and other pieces into schools to encourage composition and singing. This will take the form of composition and singing workshops, the recording of compositions, and concerts including the choir and pupils.  The new 'composer-in-residence' will also be commissioned to write a work for school choirs.  Please email  Paul Gameson for further information.