Since 2018, the Edinburgh Sacred Arts Foundation has organized an annual ‘Edinburgh Festival of the Sacred Arts’. This takes place in the middle week of the Edinburgh Fringe. Since the first Festival of the Sacred Arts in 2018, the week-long programme has expanded greatly.
In the 2023 Festival one of seven musical events was a lunchtime recital in the Canongate Kirk entitled “Composing Sacred Music: A New Generation”, an opportunity for four young composers to showcase their sacred music with the assistance of professional musicians. The concert attracted a large audience and was a huge success. The review in the Edinburgh Guide hailed it as “one of those rare moments at the Fringe where you felt you had really witnessed something special” and gave it the top rating of 5/5. Some of the works composed for the occasion have since been used liturgically and in concert programmes.
As a way of building on this success, the Edinburgh Sacred Arts Foundation, whose current Patron is the composer Paul Mealor LVO, has established a “Sacred Music Young Composers’ Prize”. The competition for this prize is open to young composers from across Scotland. The following conditions apply.
The winning entry will receive a prize of £500, with second and third prizes of £200 and the six most highly ranked compositions will be performed by professional musicians as part of the 2024 Edinburgh Festival of the Sacred Arts. To enter the competition fill in the form below and further details will be sent to you.
In the 2023 Festival one of seven musical events was a lunchtime recital in the Canongate Kirk entitled “Composing Sacred Music: A New Generation”, an opportunity for four young composers to showcase their sacred music with the assistance of professional musicians. The concert attracted a large audience and was a huge success. The review in the Edinburgh Guide hailed it as “one of those rare moments at the Fringe where you felt you had really witnessed something special” and gave it the top rating of 5/5. Some of the works composed for the occasion have since been used liturgically and in concert programmes.
As a way of building on this success, the Edinburgh Sacred Arts Foundation, whose current Patron is the composer Paul Mealor LVO, has established a “Sacred Music Young Composers’ Prize”. The competition for this prize is open to young composers from across Scotland. The following conditions apply.
- Entrants must be aged 21 or under at the time of the Festival and be resident, working or studying in Scotland.
- Pieces can be in any style of music but must be original compositions for choir, and/or choir with organ or piano.
- Entrants should submit one or two settings from the selection of 4 texts provided by the Foundation.
- Alternatively, composers may submit an existing composition, but must secure approval from the Foundation of the text they have chosen to set.
- The closing date for entering the competition is 1st April, 2024.
- The closing date for completed submission is 1st June, 2024.
The winning entry will receive a prize of £500, with second and third prizes of £200 and the six most highly ranked compositions will be performed by professional musicians as part of the 2024 Edinburgh Festival of the Sacred Arts. To enter the competition fill in the form below and further details will be sent to you.
2024 Competition Recital
1.15pm Thursday 15th August
Canongate Kirk
Prizes to be awarded by Dame Judith Weir,
Master of the King's Music
TICKETS £10 (under 18 concession £8)
Fringe Box Office Eventbrite and at the door
This competition is supported by generous grants from
Edinburgh Society of Organists, Christian Arts Trust and Royal College of Organists.
Edinburgh Society of Organists, Christian Arts Trust and Royal College of Organists.