CHORALLY
Featured Open nowComposition award / competition

Cambridge University Schola Cantorum Carol Composition Competition

Closes 1 Nov 2026United Kingdom
The winning carol will be performed in Schola Cantorum's carol services in Great St Mary’s, Cambridge and Temple Church, City of London in December 2026, and the winning composer will receive a prize of £250. Entries will be adjudicated by the Director of Cambridge Schola, Graham Walker and our Composer-in-Residence, Tim Watts

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 it's for

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

How to apply

Closes 1 Nov 2026

Email a score in PDF format to assistant@cambridgeschola.com.
Entries should be anonymised.
Scores should be emailed from an email address ending in cam.ac.uk or aru.ac.uk.