Cambridge University Schola Cantorum
Carol Composition Competition 2025

We are excited to announce the return of our annual carol composition competition. The winning carol will be performed in our carol services in Great St Mary’s, Cambridge and St Mary-le-bow, London in December 2025, and the winning composer will receive a prize of £250.

 

Who are we?

 

Cambridge University Schola Cantorum is the successor choir to St John’s Voices. For more information, visit www.cambridgeschola.com

 

What are we looking for? 

 

Your carol should be…

…a setting of a text connected to the Christmas season: this may be an existing or a newly written one, but composers are responsible for securing the permission of the copyright holder where applicable; for texts in languages other than English a full translation should be included in the front matter of the score (and where necessary, a transliteration in the score itself);

…scored for SATB choir, either a cappella or with organ accompaniment; some divisi is fine;

…1-3 minutes in duration;

…feasible to rehearse and perform as part of the choir’s full schedule (beyond this requirement for a pragmatic approach and the stipulated scoring, all musical styles are welcomed).

 

Who can enter?

 

The competition is open to all current staff and students of the University of Cambridge & Anglia Ruskin University.

 

How do I apply?

 

Email a score in PDF format to: manager@cambridgeschola.com

Entries do not need to be anonymised

Scores should be emailed from an email address ending in cam.ac.uk or aru.ac.uk

Deadline for entries: Sunday 2nd November

Entries will be adjudicated by the Director of Cambridge Schola, Graham Walker and our Composer-in-Residence, Tim Watts

 

Prizes

 

The winning carol will be performed at Schola’s 2025 Christmas services at Great St Mary’s, Cambridge on 1st December and at St Mary-le-bow, London on 11th December

The winning composer will receive a cash prize of £250