RSCM opens Harold Smart composition competition for entries
The Royal School of Church Music (RSCM) has opened entries for its 2026 Harold Smart Memorial Composition Competition, inviting composers to write a short anthem for church choirs of modest ability.
The winner will receive £500 towards training and development as a composer, with the possibility of publication. Entries close on 4 January 2027.
This year’s submissions must set the Collect for the RSCM Centenary. Anthems should last no more than three minutes and use up to four undivided voice parts. Both unaccompanied and accompanied settings are welcome; any accompaniment must be playable by an organist or pianist of Grade 5–6 standard.
The competition is open to any composer. Works must be unpublished and must not have been submitted to another competition.
Established in 1988 to encourage accessible anthem writing, the competition also offers entrants free recorded guidance from Alexander L’Estrange, Joanna Forbes L’Estrange and Stephen Bullamore.